


Learning to be Human Again

by Kiss_The_Falling_Sky



Series: Domesticity [1]
Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Angst, Burning Rescue practically adopt Lio, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Smut, Lio experiences therapy, Lio's having a little trouble adjusting and Galo is there to help, M/M, Night Terrors, Trauma, guiera and meis are kind of a thing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:02:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 23,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25405069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiss_The_Falling_Sky/pseuds/Kiss_The_Falling_Sky
Summary: When Lio first heard Galo tell him that he and the other former Burnish were going to help with the recovery of the city, he wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about it. For one thing, they’d lost a lot of people because of Kray’s stupid broken engine, never mind the fact that the stunt they pulled at the end probably hurt a lot more of them. It seemed a little harsh to set them straight to work when they were technically the victim in all of this. That was when he noticed them being taken out of the units on stretches and put into a van of some kind.Oh hell no. Not again.
Relationships: Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos
Series: Domesticity [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1934650
Comments: 17
Kudos: 111





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I watched Promare and became literally obsessed with it!  
> In an honest to god burst of inspiration, I churned this absolutely massive word doc file out.  
> So starting today and ending on Friday I'm gonna be uploading the five chapters!  
> Read the end notes for some interesting facts about the writing process!

When Lio first heard Galo tell him that he and the other former Burnish were going to help with the recovery of the city, he wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about it. For one thing, they’d lost a lot of people because of Kray’s stupid broken engine, never mind the fact that the stunt they pulled at the end probably hurt a lot more of them. It seemed a little harsh to set them straight to work when they were technically the victim in all of this. That was when he noticed them being taken out of the units on stretches and put into a van of some kind.

Oh hell no. Not again.

“Hey! What are you doing with them?!” The small man started to make his way towards the slowly moving line when a hand wrapped around his wrist.

Lio turned to see Galo’s full attention on him, and he noticed in that moment how big the other man’s hands were compared to...his entire body. One hand wrapped entirely around his arms with room to spare, which was...not surprising given that the white haired could easily be mistaken for a preteen. Strange how he’d never noticed that before...or maybe he’d just never let himself notice before.

“Let go of me Galo.” He hissed, trying to pull away with little success. 

“And where do you think you’re going Firebug?” A blue eyebrow raised at him.

“After them! What are you doing with them!? Haven’t they been through enough?!” 

Ordinarily, he’d have probably burst into flames right now, but with the Promare gone the only thing that was burning was the tears in his eyes and the wound on his chest. It was cauterised by his flames, but with so much going on he hadn’t realised how much it really hurt. He expected Galo to be mad at him, but by now he probably should have known better, because the taller man only smiled gently, leaving Lio breathless.

“They’re being taken to a hospital where they’ll be helped through a recuperation program. I don’t doubt it’ll take some time to get used to living without Promare, so the hospitals are coming up with something to help. You’ll have to go through it too.”

“So you’re helping them...I guess that’s ok.” His eyes found Meis and Gueira being taken away and relief swept through him. “Speaking of me...If I have to go through it too, why aren’t I being taken away?”

“Well, for one you’re conscious, and two…well...uh…”

This time it was Lio’s turn to raise a pale eyebrow as Galo seemed to fumble over his words. 

“I’ve been asked...by Ignis...if I could house you? Since you’re not as badly injured you wouldn’t have to stay but I think he still wants someone to look after you, of course if you already have a place to go you can go back there if you want, you don’t have to take the offer but-”

The taller man continued to ramble for a full two minutes while Lio processed what he was asking. This wasn’t an arrest, he could tell that much. Galo was genuinely asking him to come into his home so he could be safe and taken care of. Nobody had...ever wanted to protect him in return, so he was a little surprised by the gesture. Still, he eventually placed his hand over Galo’s mouth to silence him.

“Are you asking because your boss is making you?” Lio asked, looking up at him.

“Ok I lied he didn’t ask me.” Well that didn’t take long. “I just worry cause ya know...you did kind of die back there…Seriously if you do have somewhere then you can go back...I just thought I’d ask...in case you don’t.”

“Galo. I appreciate the offer-”

“No! No I get it, of course you’d want to go back-”

“Galo if you don’t shut up and let the man speak I’m going to smack you myself!” Aina called from where she was helping to Handcuff Vulcan.

That shut him up quickly and he finally let Lio talk.

“...And I will take you up on it. Thank you for allowing me into your home.” 

Lio tried to smile, a proper one not just a smirk, but the muscles in his face wouldn’t move the way he wanted them to. In the end he didn’t give much more than a grimace, but that still made Galo’s face light up like a christmas tree. Suddenly, a pair of large arms were around him and lifting him up in...what felt like it should have been a hug.

“Yeeaah! I made the big bad leader of Mad Burnish smile~!”

“You idiot…” Lio sighed, sounding way too fond for his liking.

***

Knowing what he did about Galo, he didn’t expect him to live somewhere particularly fancy. Considering he ran around shirtless more days than not and, according to Aina, ate more Pizza that was really necessary for a human being, he expected a tiny little apartment near the headquarters of the Burning Rescue.

Lio’s imagination only ended up being half right, as despite the apartment being close to the Headquarters, it was actually pretty well sized, it even had a second bedroom apparently which was good, since it meant that he didn’t have to share a bed with the blue haired idiot, Lio was a little relieved. He’d gone to the hospital first just to be checked over and informed about the program for the former Burnish, before Galo helped him onto his bike to take him back. With a sheepish grin, Galo opened the door for him.

“So uh...this is it! It’s not much really, but it’s home for me. Hopefully it can become your to! Oh lemme show you to your room!”

Galo was carrying his bag for him, and though he could have easily done it himself, Lio still felt his chest swell with gratitude. It wasn’t like it was all that heavy, he didn’t own that much since he’d always been running from Kray and the Freeze Force so he hadn’t wanted to weigh himself down.

“We’re gonna have to get you some more stuff, like this is unreal Lio-”

Both of them came to a dead stop as the second bedroom door opened...to what could easily be taken for a hoarder’s den. Lio raised an eyebrow at Galo as the taller man went pale and slammed the door shut again.

“Oops! Guess I forgot to tidy the room up! I...uh...I didn’t think you’d say yes...so…”

“I see...so this room normally looks like a bomb went off in here?”

“Well...no...maybe? Will you be ok on the couch until I get all this stuff put away?” The blue haired man looked genuinely apologetic.

“Of course that’s fine. You’re letting me into your home as a guest, I won’t complain.” Lio shrugged, taking his bag back and heading into the main living room.

As he sat on the sofa, grimacing a little when he found that his feet didn’t touch the ground, behind him he heard Galo immediately setting to work on the room to make it liveable. Lio took the moment to take in what would be his new home, at least for a while since he couldn’t imagine Galo would want this to be a permanent arrangement. 

The living room was pretty large with one wall consisting of one giant window, a decent TV in the corner of the glass and an interior wall sectioning the living room and the kitchen. There were a surprising amount of pictures dotted around, mainly of Galo and his friends on the burning rescue team. There was one of him and Kray which had the white haired man narrowing his eyes...until something else caught his attention. 

A picture of a spikey, blue haired child, stood with a giant grin between a blue haired woman and a man with black hair who looked equally happy. The child was unmistakably Galo, from the spikey hair down to his wide ‘hero’ stance. Lio felt a presence behind him, and while he would have ordinarily lashed out, he knew he was safe with this person. 

“Hey, whatcha lookin’ at Firebug?” Galo asked, looking over his shoulder.

“Do you really have to keep calling me that? I’m not Burnish anymore, remember?” 

“Well, I think it more describes your attitude than your abilities anyway.” He grinned. “Seriously though, what caught your eye?”

“Are these your parents?” Lio held up the photo he was holding, looking up at the taller man over his shoulder.

“Yep! They died when I was a kid though, in the fire that... _ he _ started. The only thing I could get out of the wreckage was that picture. I’ve worked through it, kind of. It’s gonna take some time to get over these new discoveries...but I know they’d be proud of what I’ve done.” 

The smile on Galos’ face then was...precious. That was the best word Lio could think of to describe it. It wasn’t his usual giant heroic grin, it wasn’t an arrogant smirk, it was...purely Galos. Lio found himself like it a lot more than the other smiles.

“What about you? Where are your parents?”

“I never knew my parents...they either died or abandoned me when I was really young. I never knew them.” He shrugged, not feeling like it was a big deal.

“Lio…I’m sorry, you don’t have to tell me.” 

“It’s fine. I mean, I can’t miss what I never had. I spent most of my time in an orphanage when I was growing up, one of the women there grew attached to me so I stayed until I was...15 maybe 16?” He paused, taking a deep breath. “They didn’t have a lot of money, and more often than not I gave my share of food to the younger kids. Which is why...I look how I do.” 

“Short and skinny?” Galo asked, not being tactful in the slightest.

“Yeah, that. That’s when I awoke as a Burnish...she looked so afraid...I ran so I wouldn’t hurt her or any of the kids there.” 

Lio suddenly clammed up, realising that he’d just given Galo a huge piece of himself that he hadn’t intended to share. He placed the picture back where it belonged and brushed past him, partly to get some distance between them, partly so he wouldn’t do something stupid, partly so he could look out of the window.

“But...you’re only what...my age now? What did you do before you joined Mad Burnish?”

He didn’t say anything for a while, his arms wrapped around himself as he considered whether to keep going. Lio hadn’t meant to be so open, even Meis and Gueira didn’t know these things, and yet Galo somehow made him want to be open...made him want to be vulnerable.

“I was on the streets for a few years. I had a little money so I bought the clothes you met me in, what my uniform, I didn’t wear them often cause they were really nice. I saw the day Mad Burnish attacked on your first mission.” 

“You were there? Did you see me?!” Galo’s eyes lit up, completely missing the point.

“No, I just saw them take the girl away. I followed them and saved their asses from Freeze Force and convinced them not to be killers. It was surprisingly easy. I think you know the rest.” 

“Hey...what did happen to the Burnish girl I saved?” Galo approached him, not as close as before though. “I never got her name before they grabbed her.”

“What?” Lio finally turned to look at him with wide eyes.

“Do you know what happened to her?”

They stared at each other for a moment, and Lio couldn’t explain to himself why he was so surprised that he hadn’t recognised her. Covered in bandages and dying...no he probably wouldn’t have.

“Thyma...her name was Thyma. She...she died. She was one we saved from Kray. But we were too late…”

Realisation set in, and Galo didn’t look upset or angry. Just disappointed. 

The blue haired man approached Lio again, and it took the smaller man a moment to realise he was going in for a hug. That was way too close for comfort...especially right now, so he stepped away, trying to make it obvious with his eyes that it wasn’t personal. It wasn’t that he was uncomfortable with touch...just right now it didn’t seem to be appropriate.

“Right, sorry! That was dumb...uh...why don’t I make us some food? But I haven’t been back here for like a week so...we could always order Pizza?”

“Pizza sounds great.” Lio sighed, getting a little closer to a smile.

***

The night on the sofa, since Galo was only half way through sorting the room even  _ with _ Lio’s help, was not a good one. And not because he wasn’t comfortable, it was a pretty comfy sofa. What stopped him from sleeping for almost the entire night...were nightmares.

Everytime he closed his eyes and tried to let himself drift off, the sound of all of the Burnish screaming in agony in that engine and a dull ache where he’d been shot had him wide awake again. By the time he ended up passing out from exhaustion, the beginnings of sunrise were just on the horizon, and it felt like he’d only blinked by the time he was being woken up again.

“Wakey wakey Firebug!” 

Lio cracked his eyes open to see Galo grinning down at him, his expression smug for a moment before becoming concerned. 

“Hey, you ok Lio? You don’t look good.”

“I’m fine...just didn’t sleep that well. Nothing to worry about. Why are we up so early?”

“Well, your first session is in a few hours, so I got you up to make sure you eat. If you didn’t sleep though you can go back to sleep-”

“No!”

The silence that hung over them then he’d have liked, but he really didn’t want to go back to sleep. He couldn’t face those screams again so soon. Lio cleared his throat and looked away, trying not to blush from embarrassment. 

“I mean...there’s no point now, I’m awake. What’s for breakfast?” 

“I have cereal that’s good? I think when you’re at the hospital I’ll do some grocery shopping and finish making up your room.”

It was obvious that Galo was a little shaken by that little burst of emotion, but he didn’t seem to let it affect anything. As soon as they were in the kitchen, the tension dissipated and he was back to excitedly talking about cereal. Lio followed him at a slower pace, but listening to him nonetheless. Eventually though, Galo seemed to pause for breath, so he stepped in.

“Tell me what I have to do for this recovery program?” He asked.

“Is that why you didn’t sleep last night? Were you worrying about it?” 

“Yeah...sure. I just wanna know what I’m in for?” 

“Well the main thing is going to be helping you regulate your own body temperature again. Since you got so used to having the Promare do it for you.” The blue haired man suddenly got very serious on him. “Then there’s going to be some help with your mental, physical and emotional health. You all went through something really traumatic. That’s about it.”

Oh great...more talking.

“That sounds...doable…” The smaller man lied through his teeth. “I guess since you helped me back then I won’t need as much physical treatment?”

“Nope! So I’m gonna drop you off at the hospital, get food, finish your room! Then I’m gonna come and get you.”

“You don’t have to do that. I could walk.”

“You could.” Galo nodded, closing his eyes as if he was pretending to mull it over. “But it’s my job to look after you! Plus I can take you shopping and get you some new clothes! So you have more than the pants from your uniform!”

“Please tell me you didn’t throw away the only pair of pants I actually own.” Lio scowled at him over the cereal.

“No! Just washing them I promise! That does mean you’re gonna have to borrow more of my clothes. I’m not complaining though, you do look pretty cute like this~!”

Lio looked down at himself, he was basically in his underwear with one of Galo’s t-shirts since it was the only thing that was really suited for sleeping. The shirt absolutely swamped his tiny frame, and though the blue haired man probably wasn’t wrong, there was something he didn’t like about being seen as cute.

“I’m not cute.” He hissed, noticing the other man smirking. “Stop looking at me like that Galo! I’m not cute! Besides, your shirt doesn’t even come close to fitting me, do you think your pants would be much better?”

“Well…There is one thing.”

That was the only answer he got to that, even with raised eyebrows and more questions, Galo didn’t budge and tell him what his plans were. They finished up breakfast together, leaving the dishes in the sink at the taller man’s request before he disappeared into his room. Lio waited where he was, trying not to think too hard about the night before...nor the way Galo’s eyes had regarded him just now.

“Here we go!” Galo returned holding a pair of jeans and another ridiculously oversized t-shirt.

“Ok…? Why do you have pants that small?”

“I put the washing machine on too hot one day and this was the result. They still kind of fit, they’re just tight so I don’t wear them often. But I think they’ll fit you a little better. I’ll do the dishes while you get dressed.”

Galo disappeared, leaving the smaller man to change into the pants and fresh shirt. The jeans were still pretty big on him, but at least a belt would actually make a difference this time. He tucked the first in and then put the belt on, but when he caught sight of his reflection in the window, he couldn’t help but sigh and roll his eyes. He looked stupid.

“Wow! Lookin’ good Firebug! Lemme go get dressed and then we can head out!”

That left Lio to take a seat back on the couch, waiting for Galo to come back. He figured that it would be a while before he saw his friend emerge again, with the way he styled his hair and all, and before he could stop himself he was drifting off again.

The screams of all the trapped Burnish immediately began to ring around in his head, but because he was so exhausted from the night before, he couldn’t wake himself up. For what felt like hours, he suffered silently, wanting to wake up desperately so that he didn’t have to hear those screams any more.

“LIO!”

Magenta eyes flew open to meet blue, and Lio gasped as he finally woke up. The more he came to, and the more he calmed down, the more he noticed about the situation. One, Galo was way too close to him. Two, he was clutching at Galo’s shirt like it was his one and only lifeline. 

Shit.

“Lio...are you ok? I came back and you were just-”

“It’s nothing.” Lio released the shirt, looking away. “A-are you ready to go?”

Before Galo could further question what he’d seen, the smaller boy slipped out from between his arms and made his way towards the door. Today was going to take a lot out of him, and he was already exhausted...he didn’t need any more pressure.

***

“Well...you’re adjusting better than we expected, maybe that’s down to you living with Galo, or how he saved you.” Doctor Ardebit sighed, pushing her glasses up her nose. “You’re only a few degrees below the normal range, so until you hit the minimum I’ll keep you coming for a check up once a week.”

“Ok...I’ll let Galo know.” Lio nodded.

“Normally I’d be concerned for your nutritional health, you’re ridiculously thin for your age, but I don’t think this is a recent thing, is it?” 

“No...I didn’t grow much in my teens. And I seem to have a fast metabolism anyway.” 

“Ok. I also noticed that you have some very recent scarring on your chest, was that from Kray?” She raised an eyebrow at him.

“Not directly. That asshole Vulcan shot me with a freezing bullet that absorbed my body heat.” Lio hissed, pressing his hand to where he knew it was. “I took it out myself and I must have cauterised it or something...I wasn’t thinking at the time...only about getting revenge on Kray.”

“I see. Well it isn’t infected, so it’ll probably just be a bit of pain for a few weeks while the healing completes.” The doctor wrote something in her notes. “So tell me, how have you been doing since yesterday? I know it’s a short amount of time, but we want to keep as close an eye on you as possible.”

Lio fell silent for a minute, debating on how to answer this without really lying. He didn’t trust this woman, he knew she was Aina’s sister and he didn’t mind Aina all that much. But the sister, it was partly because of her that so many Burnish got hurt. He sighed and put on his best false smile.

“I’m doing ok, so far Galo has kept me on my toes so it’s all been good.”

“Are you sure? You...you went through something really awful.” She paused, looking away. “I...I have to apologise for my part in that...if I’d have known what Kray was planning I’d have never stayed.”

A feeling of awkwardness settled on the white haired man, as he was a little unsure of what to do with the apology. It felt genuine, but he didn’t know if he was ready to forgive quite yet. 

“You’re making up for it by helping us recover...that’s enough for now.” 

He briefly looked up at the clock, there was another half hour before Galo would be here to pick him up, but he really didn’t feel like talking anymore...not that he’d done much actual talking, he just couldn’t bring himself to trust her yet, even with the apology.

“Hey...am I ok to see a couple of people in the hospital? They’re my friends...I just want to make sure they’re ok.” He asked, shoving his hands in his pockets so she wouldn’t see him nervously rubbing his fingers together.

“It should be ok, most former Burnish are at the very least awake now. Who do you want to see?”

“Two guys called Gueira and Meis?” 

“They’re on the floor above. You head up there now and I’ll send them a message that you’re coming.”

Lio nodded and left her office, making his way to the stairs to go up to see his friends. He hoped they were awake at least, he didn’t think he’d be able to stay that long if they weren’t, it was painful enough just knowing that they were in here. There were a few staff members heading in the opposite direction to him and they all regarded him with varying emotions, fear, disgust, concern. Despite the word going out about what Kray had done to the Burnish, as well as the fact that their abilities were gone, some people were hesitant to change their views.

As he cautiously stepped out into the ward, a woman caught his attention and waved him over.

“You’re here to see Guiera and Meis right? They’re just down the hall, to the right. They’ll be so happy to see you, you’re all those two talk about!” She smiled softly.

He nodded his thanks to her and headed in the direction she pointed, easily spotting his two friends. They were both sitting up, talking about...their bikes…? They were so deep in their conversation that they didn’t even notice Lio standing there.

“You know...I’m gonna miss those bikes...they were so cool.” Guiera sighed.

“You could always get an old bike and dress it up?” Meis suggested.

“Yeah, I guess, but-”

They finally noticed Lio when he dropped to his knees, his entire body going slack as he realised that they were ok. They were really alive and not too badly hurt. It felt like a weight was lifted off of his chest, even as they wiggled out of their beds to approach him.

“Boss! Are you ok!? Are you sick?!” Meis crouched in front of him, face full of worry even though he’d been in one of those torture pods.

“I’m fine...just...I’m just so relieved that you two are alive! I thought...I was worried that you’d be hurt so bad, or worse that you’d be…” He could bring himself to say it. 

“Come on, sit on my bed. If the nurses see us out of bed they’ll kick our asses, and you’re the only one allowed to do that boss.” Gueira grinned, prying his friend off of the smaller man and helping him to his feet.

Lio perched on end of the fluffy haired man’s bed while the other two got into the bed before the nurse on duty caught them. They talked for a while about what the first day had been like in the hospital, how their treatments were starting later in the day.

“It’s not actually that bad boss, the nurses are all really nice to us surprisingly!”

“That’s good...I was worried about how you’d be in here, but you seem to be doing well.” Lio sighed.

“Speaking of…” Guiera rested his arm on his knee. “I know those aren’t your clothes, and I was told that you aren’t staying at the hospital. So where are you staying, boss?”

The smaller man fidgeted a little, knowing they probably wouldn’t be all that pleased knowing that he was staying with Galo. He wasn’t their boss anymore, but friends were friends and they wanted to protect him.

“I’m not staying in the hospital. One of the people in Burning Rescue is letting me stay for a while...he wants to make sure that I’m ok…”

“Him…?” Meis raised an eyebrow, then it hit him. “Oh my god, it’s not that blue haired idiot from the other week is it?!”

“Galo...yeah. He’s been really good to me.” Lio curled in on himself.

“I’d tell you to be careful...but I don’t think that idiot could hurt you if he tried. Just...ah I don’t even know what I’m trying to say to you!” Meis rubbed the back of his neck in frustration, which drew a small chuckle out of Lio.

“I know what you’re getting at. I don’t think it’s like that, he’s just being nice. I don’t know if I’d want that right now anyway...too much going on.”

“Boss…?”

Before they could press him for details on that, a nurse poked her head around the corner, smiling when she spotted Lio.

“Oh, Mr Fotia?” Lio shuddered at how strange being called that was. “There’s a man downstairs waiting for you? I can tell him to come back later if you want more time with your friends.”

“No, he’d come up here himself. That idiot worries like there’s no tomorrow.” He turned back to the other two. “My next session is next week, but I can come back before then?”

“Ooooh don’t wanna keep your man waiting boss~!” Meis smirked, only to be smacked by Gueira.

“Go on. If he doesn’t look after you though, I don’t care if I’ve not been discharged, I’ll find where he lives and kick his ass myself!”

Lio smiled at his two best friends, but even to them his smile felt fake. It hurt him a little, that he couldn’t even smile at them right now, but both seemed happy to smile big enough for him too. He said goodbye and made his way down to meet Galo, who was leaning back against his bike.

“There you are! Did you have a good first session?” The taller man asked, waving.

“It...I don’t know whether I like this. It’s...hard to be so open.” Lio huffed, getting onto the bike behind him.

“You were open with me. I honestly thought I’d be pulling teeth to get you to talk about yourself.” He chuckled.

Lio didn’t say anything for a minute, he simply wrapped his arms around Galo’s waist so he wouldn’t fall off the bike once they started moving. He squeezed a little, burying his face into the taller man’s shirt.

“You’re different.” He muttered, hiding his face.

If Galo looked back at him, he didn’t notice and thankfully he didn’t say anything either. Lio only felt the hum of the bike shudder to life between his thighs as they rode off towards...wherever it was they were going. Didn’t Galo say something about getting him some more clothes?

“Wanna tell me where we’re going? Or should I tell your boss that you kidnapped me from the hospital?” 

“Wha-” It took him a minute to realise he was joking. “Firebug, you really need to work on your joking voice. We’re going to the shopping district. I’m sure we’ll find something in your size...though we may need to look in the kid’s section.”

“If you weren’t in control of a vehicle I’d hit you for that.” 

Galo laughed hard enough to make the bike swerve a little, but soon they were pulling up outside of what looked like a large shopping complex. 

This was going to take a while.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lio starts to realise that he can't handle things on his own.

By the time they got home, Lio had enough clothes to fill the wardrobe that had apparently been in the room, much to Galo’s surprise. A couple fake leather jackets, a variety of shirts, jeans and other pants, and some shoes that weren’t his thigh high boots.  At first he’d questioned where they were going to get the money to pay for all these new clothes, but apparently Galo made quite a bit of money working for Burning Rescue, and despite Lio trying to pay for some of it and promising to pay him back...Galo refused to accept that.

So here he was, standing in Galo’s spare room surrounded by bags full of clothes that he didn’t know what to do with. He’d never stayed in one place for much longer than a couple of days, so he’d live out of a bag. There were no personal possessions to speak of...so looking at the rest of the apartment compared to this one room...made him feel strange.

“Lio? You done putting your stuff away? I’ve made food!” Galo called for him.

He probably should have moved, or at the very least responded, but he found himself fixated on the window, watching the sun slowly begin to head towards the skyline. Is this what it was like...to belong somewhere?

“Lio, I got the food...hey I thought you were gonna unpack?” Lio turned to see Galo poking his head through the door.

“I...I’ve never had to unpack before...I don’t know where...to start.” He hummed, looking around.

“You should have told me that you needed help, you silly Firebug. Come on, eat food, and then we can work on getting all your new stuff put away. Don’t worry about it.”

Galo took him to the kitchen, being careful not to touch him and showing that he may not actually be as dense as Lio first assumed. On the central island sat two plates, both containing a burger and some fries. It didn’t look particularly healthy, but at least it wasn’t pizza again.

“Lio, I just...you said you’d never had to unpack before? But what about when you were a kid? You had clothes then, right?”

“Obviously…” He sighed, debating whether he was willing to discuss this now. “I did...but it was only a couple of things. I left a lot of it behind when I ran. I was wearing the jacket and pants, then steadily added stuff to them when I joined Mad Burnish.”

“Oh right, so you really don’t know.” Galo sighed. “Well that’s fine! I’ll just help you.”

***

Over the next couple of weeks, Lio began to fall into a routine. Most days he’d go with Galo to help repair all of the damage caused by the fight with Kray, a job at which he was found to be extremely useful. With his small stature, he could fit through gaps and fit things the other members of Burning Rescue could reach. He learnt all of their names and what they did, and found himself coming to like them.

When he wasn’t helping Galo, he was at the hospital either going through his own treatment or sitting with Gueira and Meis, sometimes he’d even go around and talk to the other former Burnish, comforting them about the future. Aina talked a lot about her sister while he was with them, so over those weeks, he found it easier to talk to her, and despite him not telling her about his nightmares, he did let her know when he was having a harder day than others.

That was the only bad thing, the nightmares. The pain filled screams of the Burnish, locked in what were essentially torture traps for them, chased him all night until he either woke up himself, or Galo woke him up instead. More often than not, the sounds would trigger the scar on his chest to throb, like the bullet was freezing him from the inside out all over again. He didn’t mind so much when it was just him, a quiet gasp would shoot him into waking and then he’d pad around the apartment until the blue haired man woke up.

But when his eyes flew open to meet Galo’s...it made things complicated.

Lio didn’t want to worry his friend, because that was the only word he felt comfortable using for them, any more than he already had done and he hadn’t even told him he’d been shot by Vulcan, so those mornings he’d gently move Galo away so he could get dressed. The whole nightmare thing left him more exhausted than when he’d been riding with Mad Burnish, but he didn’t know what to do about it. He was hoping they’d lay off after a couple of weeks...but three weeks since the incident and they were almost getting stronger.

“Hey!” Galo called from where he stood examining a photo, snapping Lio out of his thoughts. “I need to replace this photo, so I thought I could put one of you and I in there?”

“You wanna do what?” The white haired man let his head hang back so he could look at him.

“As good as I look, I don’t like Kray being in this. I’m gonna get rid of it, so I thought I could fill the frame with a picture of us! So c’mere”

With a soft sigh, Lio rolled off of the couch and approached his friend as he took the picture of Kray and tore it up, dropping it into the nearby trash can without a second thought. As soon as his phone was out, he grabbed Lio and pulled him close to him, the shock of the movement caused him to not have time to move away before the picture was taken and the blue haired man had let him go.

“You could have just asked, rather than grabbing me.” He sighed.

“You were taking too long! But hey, we make a pretty good picture! I’ll get this printed later.”

The picture was...almost too candid. The speed at which it all happened meant that Lio had a totally natural look of surprise on his face, wide eyes and slightly parted lips, he could almost believe Galo when he called him cute.

“As long as you’re happy.” He smirked. “If that’s all I think I’m gonna head to bed a little early…”

“You’re still not sleeping well are you…?” Galo’s question stopped him in his tracks.

“Excuse me?

“Don’t tell me you thought I didn’t notice? I may be an idiot sometimes, but I’m very observant. Wouldn’t have gotten far with Burning Rescue if I wasn’t. Have you spoken to Dr. Heris about it?”

The genuine look on Galo’s face had him feeling nervous, Lio really hadn’t expected him to notice. Or at least he didn’t anticipate him bringing it up so bluntly like that. The white haired man looked away, unable to bring himself to look into Galo’s eyes as he blatantly lied to him.

“It’s nothing to worry about...my body is just taking a while getting used to not being on guard 24/7.”

“If it’s nothing to worry about then look me in the eyes and tell me again.” 

Lio turned to look at him, and opened his mouth to repeat his words but...they wouldn’t come out. As much as he wanted, he couldn’t look Galo in the eyes and lie to him...not anymore anyway.

“Good night...Galo.” He sighed, disappearing into his room.

He changed into the pyjama pants he’d taken from the blue haired man, or more accurately he’d been given, and readied himself for bed. It was going to be a bad night, he could feel it under his skin. Lio just hoped he could get a couple of hours sleep at the very least.

But of course that wouldn’t happen.

As soon as he drifted off, the screams began in his head and his chest started to ache as usual...only this time they were accompanied with something he could see. It was like he was back in Kray’s makeshift core, looking out to his Burnish brethren as they were forced to burn for the faulty engine. Their screams rang in his ears, and as their pain was pumped into his own prison he felt his body begin to burn. 

He knew that the Promare were gone, he knew that Kray was in prison, he knew that everything was fine, so  _ why _ did this feel so  _ real _ !?

In the nightmare, he forced his eyes open through the pain, and despite the distance he saw Meis and Gueira. He saw his two best friends in pure agony...and the only thing he could do...was scream.

Lio’s eyes flew open and his scream from his nightmare ripped out of his chest. He sat straight up and he clutched at his hair as he continued to scream. He may have been awake, but it didn’t feel like it, he was disoriented and stuck back in that chamber. All Lio could do was scream...until the door to his room flung open.

“Lio?!” A familiar, comforting voice managed to break through the phantom screams.

The white haired man’s screams turned into slightly quieter whimpers, and he managed to turn his head in the direction of the voice. The nightmare seemed to fade a little more; the voices a little quieter. For a second, Galo was staring at him from the other end of the room, but almost in the blink of an eye he was kneeling over him on the bed and wrapping his arms around him. 

“It’s ok, little Firebug. I’m here. You don’t have to pretend right now...you can cry and scream all you want.” He whispered, his lips close to the smaller man’s ear.

And that was all it took for Lio to begin crying and clinging to the other man, his tiny body shaking with the force of his sobs. In the back of his mind, he was sure that he looked like a mess, but Galo held him through the whole episode, stroking his hair and hushing gentle whispers. Lio felt the most aggressive part of him want to pull away and tell Galo that he didn’t need him...but he couldn’t deny that having those muscular arms around him made the whole thing feel a little less overwhelming.

“Ple-please stay…?” He whimpered, once the sobs subsided.

“Of course. You don’t have to suffer through this alone.” 

Even though his eyes were closed and he was still crying a little, he could feel Galo lying him down, then curling up beside him, still holding him close. Even now, the blue haired man continued to run his fingers through the soft hair of the smaller man...until he finally fell asleep.

***

When the morning came, Lio felt more well rested than he had in a long time. He remembered having really bad nightmares that night, but at some point they’d stopped...he couldn’t remember how or why though.

That was when he felt a gentle breath on the back of his neck...and his eyes flew open.

He was still in his room in Galo’s apartment, he hadn’t walked around in his sleep and gotten lost...so who the hell was spooning him so tightly?! And why did he feel so...safe, with their arms around him. Lio turned slightly trying to get a look at who was snuggling up to him, and he cringed when he saw that familiar blue hair. Had he stayed there all night? Lio had a vague memory of begging him to stay...he didn’t expect him to stay all night. Just as he had that realisation, Galo started to wake up, grinning when he saw Lio looking at him.

“Mmm…? Whoa, did I stay here all night? Ooops!” He chuckled sheepishly. “How are you feeling Lio? You’re looking a little better.”

“I’m...well rested at least.” He sighed and although he wanted to stay in those arms a lot longer, he wormed his way out of them. 

“Seriously, are you ok? I thought Dr. Heris’ therapy was supposed to be helping you through stuff like this.” He waited for Lio’s answer, but it quickly came to him when the smaller man didn’t even look at him, never mind answer him. “You haven’t told her…”

“I thought I could handle it on my own…”

“Lio!” Galo slid out of bed and sat next to him, not too close though. “The whole point of this treatment is to help you cope with what you went through! Maybe you think you can handle this on your own...but last night proved that you’re suffering...badly!”

He didn’t say anything, just looked away and wrapped his arms around himself. It was hard for Lio to allow himself to be this vulnerable, and yet...when Galo wrapped an arm around him again, he didn’t pull away.

“Here’s the plan, we’re gonna go out to get breakfast, cause after that you deserve a treat, then I’m gonna take you to your session with Heris, and you’re gonna tell her about this.”

The taller man jumped to his feet and made his way towards the door, turning back and giving a grin that so very clearly indicated that he’d be back soon. Lio took the time to dress himself in a pair of skinny jeans and a black sweater, pulling on a pair of boots before going to wait in the living room.

Galo soon appeared, not in his uniform as Lio expected, but in a tight short sleeved t-shirt and his usual red pants. Was he not working with Burning Rescue today?

“Why are you dressed like that? Aren’t you working?” He asked, genuinely curious.

“Nope! Not today! I have a day off! So that means I’m coming with you to your session!” Galo said it like it was no big deal.

“What? Why?”

“Because knowing you, you won’t tell Heris about the night terrors unless I’m there. So this time I’m coming with you!”

Lio was going to argue, was going to tell Galo not to bother and that he’d be fine on his own. But then he saw the look of...not happiness...something else that he couldn’t really identify.

“Fine...but you’ll just get bored and start interrupting. Let’s go.” He headed for the door, and as expected, Galo followed.

***

“So...why is my sister’s idiot friend with you?” Dr Heirs’ eyebrows raised in curiosity. 

“I’m just making sure Lio is 100% honest with you today Doc! Don’t worry, I won’t get in the way.”

“Just let him come in Dr. Ardebit. I’ve given up trying to convince him.” Lio sighed, rolling his eyes.

“I see...you two come on in then.” 

The two of them sat down, and despite her initial uncertainty, Dr. Heris quickly got used to Galo sitting on the rarely used second chair in the room.

“So...I’d just like to follow up on something Galo said before you came in. Something about honesty?” She looked at him over the edge of her glasses.

At first Lio didn’t speak, a part of him wondered if he’d be able to get away with not saying anything until she moved on, it was a trick that usually worked. Unfortunately, this wasn’t a usual session, as Galo nudged him in the ribs.

“I’ve...since the incident I’ve been having nightmares...Galo called them night terrors, but I think that’s just-”

“And why didn’t you bring this up before?” She cut him off, both her and the blue haired man giving him a certain type of look.

“I just didn’t think it was a big deal, alright?”

“Oh yeah? And how did that work out for you?” When Lio said nothing, her eyes turned to Galo.

“He woke up screaming last night. It took a while to calm him down. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a human being make that kind of noise.”

“Please, Galo, keep telling her everything.” Lio rolled his eyes.

“What did you see in the night terrors? Was it something specific? Or just a feeling?”

The white haired man realised then that they weren’t going to let this go so easily, so he finally told her everything. About how it started off as just the screaming, how the screaming got louder over the course of the past couple weeks, finally culminating into actually being back in the Promatech pods last night.

“Lio…” She sounded heartbroken, genuinely upset. “You should have mentioned this sooner, but now that I know we’re going to focus on this during your mental therapy sessions. I don’t want to overwhelm you too soon, so we’ll move on to physical things now, ok?”

The rest of the session went as usual, his body temperature was gradually getting higher, though it still wasn’t where it should be, but she was pretty happy with his progress, so she didn’t grill him about this at least. When he’d had to take his shirt off he made Galo turn away and look at anything else. Not because he was shy...he just didn’t want any more confrontation and he knew seeing the scar would cause some. 

“I think that’s it for today Lio, I’ll see you next week. Between now and then though, when you have night terrors, I want you to write them down as soon as you wake up. We’ll work through it, ok?” She smiled softly. “Would you like me to let Guiera and Meis know you’re heading up?”

“Please, thank you Dr. Ardebit. See you next week.” Lio nodded, and led Galo out of the office.

“So where are you going now?” Galo asked once they were in the corridor.

“Well, I want to go and see Gueira and Meis.” 

“You guys are really close. I suppose it makes sense since you went through so much together.”

“They’ve been my closest friends for such a long time. I know I said I was the one who saved them from Freeze Force...but they also saved me. I was pretty young, but had really good control of the fire, but I was so lonely...” He looked away, deciding he didn’t need to elaborate on that.

There were layers to his relationship with Meis and Gueira, one in particular that he knew Galo wouldn’t get without a lengthy explanation of his time in Mad Burnish. It was better to leave it there for now, and thankfully the blue haired man let him.

“It’s good that you had them to keep you going. I’ll be waiting with the bike ok?”

“You don’t have to stay, I can get home on my own.”

“No I’ll wait! Take your time ok!"

Lio nodded and left Galo where he was, the blue haired man immediately pulling out his phone to do something that he couldn’t see. It didn’t matter anyway, as he quickly found both of his friends sitting on their beds, and smiling at him.

“Sup, Boss!” Gueira turned to him, the smile fading little when he finally looked at him properly. “Hey are you ok? You don’t look too good.”

“It’s fine...it was a bad night, and I just had a session with Dr. Ardebit so I’m a little drained.” He took his usual place at the end of the poofy haired man’s bed.

“Long night huh? That idiot keeping you awake?” He was kidding, obviously, but Lio didn’t really feel like joking.

Meis launched a pillow at the other man, narrowly missing the smaller man sitting on his bed. Their friendships manifested in different ways, where Gueira teased him and made jokes a lot, Meis was more serious and focused. They were both very protective of him, and he was actually missing them a lot.

“Not him...He’s surprisingly quiet at night believe it or not.” 

“Was it nightmares?” Meis suddenly spoke up, his accuracy catching Lio off guard a little.

“Yeah…” He muttered after a pause. “They were pretty bad last night.”

“You should tell Dr Heris about them, she knows what to do that’ll help. Pretty much everyone in here has them too...especially the kids.” Gueira smiled, though it was a little less present than before.

“I told her about them today...Galo made sure of that. He sat there and nudged me until I did.”

“Well I suppose that’s one thing that idiot is good for besides fighting fires, he’s just about the only person who’s equally or more stubborn than you!” 

Lio leaned over and flicked Meis on the nose for that, and the three of them began to laugh until things felt almost normal again. In reality it wasn’t that simple, but at least they could pretend for now.

They talked for a little longer, and his friends turned to grilling him about what things were like in what they’d dubbed the ‘Thymos-Fotia’ household. They wouldn’t drop that no matter how many times he told them that it wasn’t like that.

“How does he handle the nightmares?” Meis broke through Gueira’s comments to ask a genuine question.

“You’ll laugh at me…” Lio sighed, looking away.

“Ok, I promise not to laugh, and if Gueira laughs I’ll hit him!” He ignored the other man’s protests.

“Well...at first he didn’t really know...or maybe he was waiting for me to come to him about them. Either way, that was it for a couple of weeks. Then last night it was so bad that I woke up screaming, even though I knew I was awake, I had no idea where I was? Like we were all still in that engine.”

“Ok…” Neither of them laughed at that, and why would they? They both went through this themselves.

“That was when he burst into my room and...he just held me and stroked my hair until I calmed down. He stayed with me the whole time…” A faint blush was visible on Lio’s nose and the tips of his ears. “I just don’t know why...he’d do that.”

“Boss…” Meis rested a hand on his shoulder.

“Have you ever considered that the idiot likes you a whole lot more than you think? And have you let yourself properly work out whether it would be a good thing or not to let yourself like him back?”

He hadn’t considered that, and really it wasn’t something he could even think about considering. Galo was a good friend, who was taking care of him during a really difficult time. He’d probably get him to move out eventually, once he was closer to being recovered than not.

“It’s really not like that.” Lio shrugged, wrapping his arms around himself.

“But he could want to start things off with a physical relationship! Imagine boss, him just wanting to keep you warm with his-”

“Enough!” Lio pressed his hand to Gueira’s mouth, trying not to go dizzy from how hard the blood was rushing to his cheeks. “That might be how you work, but I can’t see him doing casual stuff. It’s not Galo.”

“You never know~” He stuck his tongue out, sounding an awful lot like Lucia.

“I’d better get going, he’s waiting outside for me.” The white haired man decided to put an end to the conversation right there.

“You should bring him with you next time!” Guiera laughed, though Lio knew he only suggested it so he could tease the blue haired man as well as Lio.

“We’ll see. Take care you two.”

They waved him off as he made his way out of the ward, then out of the hospital in general. Before he got to the street, he took a minute to lean against the wall and steady his breathing, not wanting to give away what they’d been talking about to Galo. It wasn’t possible for them to be like that, he was just doing his job.

“Lio?” He looked up to see that same man staring back at him. “You ready to go?”

“Yeah...just needed a moment to process. I’m ok.” 

For a moment, he thought Galo was going to question him on it, but instead he just nodded and brought the bike round. The look on his face suggested that this definitely wasn’t the end of the conversation. They sat on the bike and rode off in a direction that Lio immediately noticed wasn’t for the apartment.

“Where are we going?” He asked, straining to look at Galo over his broad shoulder.

“Oh! Sorry, I didn’t tell you.” The blue haired man laughed. “Captain Ignis wants to see you, it’s nothing bad. It’s just now that most of the repairs are done we’ll be going back to rescue stuff. He probably just wants to talk to you about it.”

Lio nodded, and wrapped himself a little tighter around the taller man’s waist. It wasn’t that he was afraid of the Burning Rescue captain, he was quite fond of most of them despite being a little unsure of the hat wearing mouse they had running around, but he could never quite tell what Ignis was thinking.

As they pulled into the main building of headquarters, Aina and the others waved to them, cheerily exchanging greetings.

“I thought you had a day off!” Varys asked, doing his best to flatten the spikes on his friend’s head.

“I do, but the Captain wanted to see Lio.” He turned back to the other man who was still wiggling off of Galo’s bike. “You head on up, he’s waiting. I’ll be down here when you’re done.”

“Sometimes I think you’re just here to take me places, you’re like a taxi.” Lio shook his head before heading up the stairs to the Captain’s office. 

The door was already open, so he knocked on the wall before he’d realised that Ignis had been talking to Lucia before he’d come in.

“Uuh...should I come back? Or…?”

“No, come in! Lucia and I were actually talking about you.” That didn’t sound good. “Did Galo tell you anything on your way over here?” 

“No sir, only that since most repairs are done you’ll be going back to more rescue based work?”

“That’s about the jist of it, yeah. We were hoping if you’d continue volunteering for us for a while. You’ve been just what we were missing.”

“What?” His eyes widened.

“You wouldn’t be paid, but you’d be able to come with us during emergencies. Your natural frame and body type allows you to reach places we can’t. Until you have a bit of experience it would only be voluntary, but the offer’s there for you.”

“It...it’d be an honor. But are you sure you want that kind of publicity? I haven’t exactly been Promepolis’ number one citizen.”

“We’re determined to show that the former Burnish are and always have been equal citizens, even you Lio Fotia. I think the former leader of Mad Burnish is the perfect person to lead that reform.”

“Then I’d be happy to continue working with you, however you need me.” Lio tried his best to smile.

“In that case...Lucia? He’s all yours!” 

“Roger that~!” The small girl grinned at him, and he had to resist the urge to back away from her. 

She moved around him with quick movements, using a tape measure to get the size of his legs, chest, height and the usual. The whole time Lio listened to her talk about whatever it was she was planning to create for him. He was very aware that Lucia was a genius in her field...so whatever she was planning, he trusted it to be good.

“Since you’re not really built to do much heavy lifting, the Captain wants to use you for focal rescues. Say there’s a single person trapped in a burning or collapsing building, we’ll send you in. The suit will have all the things you need to make a rescue, it’ll just be more slimline so your mobility isn’t compromised. Sound good?”

“Sounds brilliant! I can’t wait to see it.” He tried to follow along with her.

“That’s all done! It’ll be in production for at least a week, so hopefully we don’t need you before then!” She laughed, smacking him on the back and sending him on his way.

By the time he returned to the main holding area, Vary was sitting on Galo while Aina and Remi watched him with an almost tired expression. This must happen fairly often then.

“Lio!” The blue haired man gasped, reaching out towards him. “Save me Firebug!”

“You know, just for that you can stay there.” Lio rolled his eyes, smirking a little.

“Lio~!”

“He calls you Firebug?” Aina looked at him and he leant against the wall beside her.

“I don’t know why, I think at first he used it to rile me up...now it feels like more of a...a…”

“A pet name?” She grinned, jamming an elbow into his ribs.

Lio rolled his eyes at her, but he couldn’t deny what she’d said. It really was more of an affectionate pet name now, and while he was fine with the blue haired idiot using it in private, having others know about it put him a little on edge.

“Ooooh are we ganging up on Galo again?” Lucia poked her head out of a door, her body following as she held her notes on Lio close to her chest. “Hey, hey Lio watch this.” 

Magenta eyes followed the tiny genius as she approached Galo, still pinned under Varys’ weight, a sly grin on her face. This was going to be interesting.

“Ok, what does Y-E-S spell?” She asked him, and somehow Galo completely missed the look on her face.

“Yes!”

“What does E-Y-E-S spell?” Lio raised an eyebrow, surely he couldn’t be that dense.

“Yes!” He repeated with full confidence.

Four jaws hit the floor in shock at the blue haired man’s utter lack of common sense. Lucia was trying her best not to laugh as she stood above him, Varys standing up so he could stare at him in disbelief properly.

“Wha-What does E-Y-E-S  _ spell _ ?” She asked him again, pushing out each letter.

“E-yes?” Galo tried, sitting himself up as Lucia finally cracked, almost manic giggles bubbling from her lips.

“What...is happening?” Lio wondered, more to himself than Aina since she looked like she was about to burst a blood vessel with how hard she was trying not to laugh.

“What does Y-E-S spell?” Lucia asked again, as if repeating the question was going to get it through that mountain of blue hair.

“Yes!” Even Galo was starting to get frustrated now.

“What does E-Y-E-S spell?!” 

For a moment they thought he was going to catch on, and Lio could practically hear the gears turning in his head as he mulled the question over. He was genuinely putting thought into this, like it wasn’t an easy question. 

“E-yes!” Lio face palmed and groaned while Lucia wheezed with actual tears in her eyes. “What are you crying for?! Lio what is…?”

“Ok, it’s ok! Try again.” Aina chimed in, the group hoping her calm voice could get through to their resident idiot. “What does Y-E-S spell?”

“Yes!” Galo crossed his arms and pouted.

“What does...E-Y-E-S spell?” Aina looked at him with hope.

“...Ease?” He looked so confused, which not only set Lucia off again, but now Aina was laughing too as he tried again. “Ay-es?!” 

That almost broke him. Lio had practically shoved his fist into his mouth to stop himself from laughing at the big blue idiot, but he was making it so difficult!

“E-Y-E-S?” He spelled it out for himself this time, only to repeat “E-yes!?”

That cracked Varys and Remi, and by this point Lio was the only one not laughing out right at him. He had to get it sooner or later.

“What?! I don’t get what’s happening?!” He turned to Lio for some help.

“E...Y...E...S” He managed to gasp out the letters without breaking.

“E...Y...E…” There was a pause, and everyone held their breaths. “Oh! Eyes!”

Everyone burst out laughing again, and Lio finally gave in and laughed along with them. It was the first time he’d properly laugh in...years maybe? He couldn’t remember laughing more than a brief chuckle back with Mad Burnish...yet here he was...laughing so hard that his chest hurt, for once in a good way that he didn’t actually mind.

Lio managed to crack his eyes open enough to look at Galo, who was laughing along with them, only for the other man’s eyes to light up at the sight of him laughing. He took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself...and managed the closest to a genuine smile he’d done in a long time. Galo’s eyes lit up, but he didn’t pass comment on it. He didn’t need to.

“Alright, Galo get out of here! You’re distracting everyone. Lio, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Ignis called from his office

“Yes sir!”

Once the two of them were seated on the bike, they waved to the rest of Burning Rescue before Galo finally set off to take them home. They didn’t exchange any words on the way back, but Lio was certain the other man could feel the way his arms squeezed his waist. Maybe he was just holding on tight as they zoomed through the streets, maybe he was thanking him for finally making him laugh.

Not even Lio knew.

“Woo what a day!” Galo grinned, stretching as he swung himself off of the bike.

“I really didn’t think you were that dense that you didn’t know how to spell the word  _ Eyes _ ?” 

“Stop rubbing it in ok? I’m smart when I need to be!” He laughed, going to unlock the door. “What do you want to eat tonight? We could have spaghetti?” 

“Spaghetti sounds good.” He nodded, following him up the stairs.

“By the way, what did the Captain and Lucia want with you? You were in there longer than I thought you’d be and I got kinda worried. That was...that was why Varys was sitting on me.” He added sheepishly.

“You’re such an idiot. But thanks for worrying.” After that laughing fit, he was finding it easier to smile, especially at him. “He offered me a job. I’ll be volunteering until they feel I’m trained up enough, but starting from tomorrow I’m joining Burnish Rescue.” 

“What?! Lio that’s awesome!”

The white haired man was yanked into a tight hug, and despite his protests, Galo ended up carrying him the rest of the way into the apartment. They began to prepare for dinner together, moving around the kitchen like they’d live together for years, not a matter of weeks. It was incredibly natural and...seriously domestic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Nightmares - Considering the amount of physical pain Lio experienced while being the core of the Parnassus engine, on top of being surrounded by the screams of his people, it'd make sense that he'd have to deal with some pretty bad nightmares about it. He's just too stubborn to admit it that he needs help.
> 
> Gueira and Meis - I think, and I've seen other writers with this belief too, that Lio, Gueira and Meis probably had a pretty physical relationship when Lio first joined up. Lio I see as a pretty cuddly guy once he gets comfortable with someone, and I can't see the other two denying him contact when he got so little growing up.
> 
> EYES - So did I add another 500 words to the count just so I could have this joke of the others teasing Galo? Yes. Not long after finishing Promare for the first time, I scoured youtube for crack videos and comic dubs. This one has me in stitches every time I watch it. Here's the link, PLEASE check it out yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAzEkk_NzEU


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lio doesn't understand these new feelings Galo stirs in him.

As much of a pain as it was, Lio did exactly as he was told and began keeping a journal of what he saw and heard in his dreams. Over the next few nights, any time he woke up he immediately wrote before trying to go back to sleep. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes he fell asleep only to be woken up by another nightmare, so he was still left feeling pretty exhausted. 

At least with the journal he could work through them, either on his own or with Dr. Ardebit.

Still, even though he was having an easier time in his sessions, he was still struggling at home. They weren’t as bad as the one where Galo burst into his room, but they did leave him very shaken once he’d pulled himself out of the nightmare. Using Galo’s phone, the blue haired man promised to get him one of his own eventually, he’d called Dr. Ardebit and asked her if this was normal, and she’d told him that so early in his treatment that it would feel like there was little progress. It didn’t make him feel any better about it, but was better than nothing.

One night, after waking up with a start twice already...he found himself no longer wanting to face it alone...it was a long chance that Galo would be awake at 2am...but there was no harm in poking his head in to check.

He shuffled down the hall to Galo’s room, and as he stood outside the door he came to the realisation that he’d never actually been in this room. Not for any particular reason, it was just that he never needed to...but now he felt that he needed to. Lio knocked, and was surprised that he actually got an answer.

“Come in…?” 

Inside the room, Galo was sat crossed legged on his bed with a laptop in front of him. He was dressed in the total opposite of the smaller man, who was just in an oversized shirt that was probably Galo’s, as he was shirtless and only in some pyjama pants. He looked up when Lio shuffled through the door, and raised an eyebrow.

“Lio? Are you ok?” 

“I...I had a nightmare again.” He muttered, trying to push past his pride and admit he needed to feel safe.

“Oh...oh! Come on, get your tiny butt over here!” Galo lifted up the sheets to make room.

The smaller man immediately filled the space made for him, snuggling into the blankets that smelt so much like Galo. He didn’t get too close, especially since the blue haired man was still sat on top of the sheets.

“What are you looking at?” Lio asked, pulling the sheets up to his chin.

“I was looking at getting you your own phone. There are some good ones for decent prices.”

“You don’t have to do that...I can get one when Burning Rescue start paying me.”

“I know I could. Just see it as a present ok? That way you can message me when you’re finished at the end of your sessions and we don’t have to keep sending messages through the hospital staff.”

“If you insist...but I’ll pay you back for all of this one day.” 

“Listen here, Firebug. You don’t have to pay me back for anything I’ve done. I’ve not done it so you have to.” He turned the computer off and moved it to one side so he could get into bed.

“But-” 

“Stop it Lio. We’re gonna get some sleep, and tomorrow we can start working hard with Burning Rescue. If I catch you thinking about paying me back, I’m gonna kick that tiny ass of yours.” Galo rolled over to look at him.

“Have you been staring?” It wasn’t a criticism, Lio was genuinely shocked that the blue haired man had paid any sort of attention to his body.

“Wha-!? No! Not staring! No on purpose at least! You just wear a lot of tight pants, so I can’t-”

“I was kidding.” He laughed, he wasn’t but Galo didn’t need to know that.

“You…” He sighed, relaxing into his pillow. “You really do need to work on your joking voice.” 

For a moment, he looked like he was going to ask something else, but Lio cut him off by snuggling up to him much like he’d done that first night, only this time it was his choice.

***

Despite himself, this became a nightly thing. Lio was still having nightmares multiple times a night, but now he didn’t wait for the second or third one to go to Galo, who was always waiting for him with open arms. Sometimes he wasn’t even awake, the smaller man would just slip into his room and worm his way into those arms that always welcomed him. 

It definitely made a difference, as even though he still had them when he was wrapped up in Galo’s arms...they didn’t seem as scary. And when he woke with a start, that blue haired idiot of his would just run his fingers through his hair...it had Lio facing feelings he’d never experienced. He’d broken through one issue, letting down his guard around people, not just Galo, but the rest of Burning Rescue, and Dr Ardebit. 

“You’re looking a lot more well rested, Lio. Are the nightmares getting less?” 

“Not really Dr Ardebit...I still have several a night...I just have a way to get through them now. It’s getting easier.”

“I think you can call me Heris at this point, Aina told me you’re doing a lot more work with the Rescue team, so we’ll probably see a bit more of each other outside of these sessions.” She smiled. “You said you had a way of coping? Can I ask what it is…?”

“I um...I usually go and sleep with Galo.” He blushed and looked away.

“Oh!” She’d obviously not been expecting that. “Does that help?” 

He nodded, fiddling with the sleeves of his shirt as he tried not to just bolt for the door, then and there. Lio was still getting used to this confiding in people, but he was better at it...thanks to Gueira and Meis convincing him that the woman wasn’t that bad.

“He makes me feel safe? I don’t know what it is about him, but he makes going on so easy. I’m really struggling without the Promare...for so long they were who I was...And now…”

“Well your body temp is finally where we wanted it to be and your scar has healed just fine, does it feel strange?”

“It...I don’t know, I’m not really thinking about it. That wasn’t really what I meant. For the longest time, I was on my own. Even with Mad Burnish there was a certain indifference I had to keep as the leader. And now I’m relying on people...I’m talking about my problems, I’m feeling...too much.”

“Too much? As in...you think you have feelings for him?”

“I don’t know! I don’t know what I’m feeling, only that it’s strong and I’ve never felt like this before and it  _ scares  _ me!” 

“It’s…” Her eyes flicked to the clock on the wall and she sighed. “Damn...You have a phone now right?” 

“Uh, yes! Galo got me one.” He pulled it out, unsure of why she wanted it. 

“Here, let me put my number in. If you need me let me know, especially about this thing with Galo. If you feel overwhelmed by anything, call me, ok?” 

“Alright, sure.” It felt a bit strange, watching her put her number into the phone. 

“I know you normally go and see your friends, but they’re going through some physical therapy stuff right now, so are you ok to go straight home?”

“Oh, yeah that’s fine. Tell them I say hi please?” 

The doctor nodded and he made his way out of the hospital, texting Galo that he was done and then thinking about what they’d discussed. Even admitting that he was feeling something this raw and new had been something of a big step, it kind of made him want to curl up in bed to think about it. 

The roar of a motorbike engine dragged him out of his head, and the blue haired man pulled up in front of him, with that big dopey grin.

“Hey! You finished early?” 

“Yeah...Gueira and Meis are doing their treatment so I thought I’d just go home.” He explained, sliding on to the bike.

“You sure it went ok? You seem a little rattled.” Lio only shrugged in response, so Galo sighed. “Ok then...before we head home, let me take you somewhere!”

“Somewhere?”

“You’ve been there before, don’t worry!” The bike came to life again, as Galo set off.

Lio clung to him tightly, hoping that over the vibrations of the bike, the blue haired man wouldn’t feel how hard his heart was thudding. It was like he was feeling the thrill of being Burnish again, but without all of those destructive instincts. Instead...his instincts were too different for him to know. 

The ride only took a few minutes at most, and the closer they got, the more Lio recognised where they were headed. It was the Frozen lake that had kept Professor Deus Prometh’s research lab hidden from the world...until Aina had dropped them onto the lake and his own rage filled flames evaporated the ice.

“I figured that maybe you could do with some fresh air and some quiet could help you clear your head.” Galo smiled. "Besides, they say if you bring the same person to a place twice then it's no longer yours alone. This is our place."

“You know, the word quiet and the name Galo don’t exactly line up in my head.” He chuckled. “But thank you.” 

They slid off the bike, then sat down together at the edge of what used to be the frozen lake in silence. It was just a crater now, but the sounds of the forest around them didn’t stop, birds...the wind, the leaves. It all felt very serene.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Galo asked, eventually. “I know you talk about it to Heris, but if you need like...I don’t know, another point of view?”

He was inarticulate at best, and Lio laughed as he turned to see the incredibly earnest look on his face. 

“It’s difficult to explain to someone who doesn’t get it. I’m not used to relying on people, not used to feeling safe. Dr. Heris told me to call her if things get overwhelming for me…”

“I can see how that’d be difficult for you, Firebug. But you know that I’m here for you too, not just at night.” Galo’s arm slid loosely around his waist, Lio wouldn’t have noticed if he hadn’t seen him shift.

“I know…” He sighed, not moving away. “I just...it’s hard to explain how I’m feeling when I don’t know what it is? If I could come up with a name it’d be fine...but I’ve never felt this before.”

“Not even...anything close?” He felt the blue haired man turn and look at him.

“The closest thing...was when we saved the world and sent the Promare home. Such an intense burn in my chest...not something bad though.” 

Lio turned to look back at Galo, and he didn’t realise how close their faces would be so close when he did. If either of them moved an inch then it would be so easy for their lips to press together. Did he want that? Would Galo want that? 

There was a vague memory at the back of his mind, something telling me that he’d experienced the pressure of Galo’s lips against his before...but when could that have happened? 

Before he could think too much about it, he noticed the blue haired man leaning in, attempting to close the gap between them and do...what?! A spark of panic raced up his spine, and without thinking about whether it was what he wanted or not, he scooted back and looked away.

“Oh...Lio I’m sorry I...I didn’t think...I wasn’t trying to…”

“It’s ok, I didn’t not want to...I don’t think…” He took a deep breath and looked back at him. “I’ve got too much going on right now.” 

“Don’t worry I get it! I just wasn’t thinking.” Galo paused, then his eyes widened. “You’re not gonna move out because of this right?!"

“Of course not, you idiot.” Lio sighed, rolling his eyes and getting to his feet, holding up and hand for the other man to take.

Somehow it didn’t feel awkward between them after what Lio decided to call Galo’s second attempt at mouth to mouth, even when he was wrapped around his middle again on the bike ride home. That was probably due to the fact that Lio had practically told him that he wanted whatever it was he was trying to do, just not now. 

By the time they got home, Galo had decided that he was going to surprise Lio with dinner that night, which was fine with the smaller man since he needed to call Dr. Heris anyway. He excused himself to his room, saying he’d wait there for dinner and see if taking a nap was an option, not a lie since he probably would once the phone call was over. Lio dialled the number she’d given him and waited.

“ _ Hello? _ ”

“Hi, Dr. Heris? It’s Lio.” He sighed once she answered.

“ _ Lio? I wasn’t expecting you to call so soon! Did something happen? _ ”

“Uh kind of…?” He caught himself blushing. “Galo took me to what used to be a lake, just so I could get some fresh air and we were just talking? We were sitting really close but then...I don’t know what he was gonna do? I think he did it to save my life...but the situation is different right?” 

“ _ Lio...what did Galo do? _ ” She sounded concerned, and suddenly the white haired man felt very young and uncertain.

“He tried to press his lips to mine again. I think he was giving me CPR before but-"

“ _ Galo tried to kiss you?! _ ” Then from what sounded like a distance there came a “ _ Say what?! _ ”

“Dr Heris? Is someone there with you?” He raised an eyebrow.

“ _ Oh, Aina’s here, don't mind her. _ ” Well...tomorrow was going to be interesting. “ _ What did you do? _ ”

“I moved away? I didn’t realise he was trying to do that? Or at least not in that  _ way _ !? I didn’t think Galo would be...”

“ _ You’ve never been kissed…?” _

“Of course I’ve been kissed! I’m not that much of a child! I’ve done more than just kissing too!”

_ Ok ok! Sorry I didn’t need to know that much about your sex life! How does the idea of kissing him make you feel? That’s the important thing. _ ” She asked, the sound of footsteps indicating that she was moving away from the prying ears of her sister.

“It...it makes me feel warm? Not like when the Promare were around, it’s not burning hot. It’s...like a cup of hot chocolate on a freezing day.” He hummed, trying to think of an accurate comparison.

“ _ And...that’s good right? Look I know I’m supposed to be professional but that was adorable Lio. _ ”

“Right…” He sighed, rolling his eyes. “But yeah...it’ s new and a little odd...but it’s good.”

“ _ Then why didn’t you let it happen? _ ”

“I don’t know...My body moved on its own and suddenly he was apologising. It’s not like he’s not done it before but…”

“ _ Circumstance is a powerful thing. I know. Do you think if you’d been more prepared for it, you’d have let him? _ ”

“I don’t know...We sleep together every night, so I didn’t think it’d be such a big deal. I just feel like I have something left to figure out before I’m worthy of him…”

“ _ Lio, you can’t decide if you’re worthy of him. Only Galo can do that. If you still think that you need to work on your self image before you’re ready for things to go further, that’s fine too. Just...don’t ever tell yourself you’re not worthy of love. _ ”

The word love rang in his ears, throwing him into a whole new conflict that he hadn’t even considered before. Did he...love Galo? Is that what this new feeling was? It wasn’t that he’d never experienced love before, there was the woman at the orphanage, and the way he loved Meis and Guiera was too complicated to label. But this was different. A new kind of love he’d never felt before.

“I’ll think about it.” He turned as his door opened and Galo poked his head in. “I’ve gotta go, dinner’s ready. I’ll talk to you next week.”

“ _ Ok, look after yourself Lio. _ ” With that she hung up and let him go.

“You ok?” Galo asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah! Just Dr. Heris checking in about something we didn’t get to finish talking about in our session, it’s fine.” 

“That’s good! Come on, food’s ready!”

It turned out that Galo was a surprisingly versatile cook, as he was faced with some enchiladas that almost looked too good to eat. They sat down together at the central island in the kitchen and Galo served up the wraps with skills that looked like they’d been practiced.

“I didn’t know you liked Mexican food?” Lio looked at him with eyebrows raised.

“I’ve never actually done this before, they’ve got chicken in them which I know you like, and they’re spicy, so I figured why not?”

Lio couldn’t stop himself from blushing at the realisation that the blue haired man had put so much effort into making something for him so he’d...he’d what? Smile? Not feel bad about not letting him kiss him? It was impossible to tell.

“These are really good.” He mumbled around his fork, trying not to think too much about it. “You know, if Firefighting doesn’t work out you could always open a restaurant?"

“What a shame for the rest of Promepolis that they won’t get to taste my amazing food then!” Galo shot back, obviously relieved that his attempt at a kiss hadn’t changed things.

Through dinner they talked, but the more he spoke, the more Lio noticed that something seemed to be on Galo’s mind. Maybe it had always been like that and he’d just been too wrapped up in his own problems to notice...It was like he could ask though, Galo just kept running his mouth and he barely got more than a nod and laugh occasionally.

“Ugh...So good!” Galo sighed, collecting the plates and leaving them in the sink to soak.

“If you keep feeding me like this I’m gonna gain weight.” Lio joked, moving to curl up on the sofa and turning on the tv.

“Yeah right. I could probably feed you nothing but fast food for a month and you’d still be a noodle.” Galo sat next to him, bringing a knee up to his chest.

As the TV powered up, it looked like they were in the middle of a news show. The woman on screen was talking about the trias of the higher ups in the Parnassus project, and most of them were charged with aiding in the torture of the Burnish people. Lio had been somewhat aware of that, especially since there was no way that people would let Kray get away with what he did.

“ _ The former Governor Kray Foresight, as well as his assistant Biar Colossus and leader of Freeze Force Vulcan Haestus have been charged with not only the torture of the Burnish, but murder as well, since several Burnish lives were lost before and during the Parnassus incident. Foresight is also facing charges of False Imprisonment, manipulation and black mail of staff, and endangering the city of Promepolis. A member of the Burning Rescue team, Galo Thymos, has been vital with his testimony against the former Governor-” _

Lio tuned out the words still coming from the TV, as it dawned on him why Galo had seemed a little out of sorts at dinner. If he’d been doing this, then it made sense...he’d been giving evidence to get the man he once saw as his hero locked away for good.

“Ugh, the news exaggerates everything, it wasn’t that important.” Galo shrugged, noticing Lio’s wide eyed expression.

“Have you been doing this since the incident…?”

“Well...yeah? I was there for a lot of what happened so they needed me. They asked if they could talk to you too, but I told them to leave it...at least for a while.”

“Why…?” Lio turned to look at him.

“I just figured you’d need time to heal after everything! They make you go over it again and again and you just didn’t need it when you were already struggling.” Galo waited for an answer, but when he didn’t get one he started to look nervous. “Are...are you mad? I guess I should have talked to you about it first but-”

“I’m not mad, you idiot.” He sighed, smiling a little. “Not about that anyway...I appreciate you looking out for me like that...protecting me.”

“Oh! Well that’s great! Then...what are you mad about?” The blue haired man cocked his head to one side, looking like an oversized, blue dog.

“I’m mad that you didn’t tell me that you were dealing with it. It’s a little hypocritical that all this time you’ve been helping me learn to rely on people more, when you’ve been shouldering this on your own.” 

“Aina’s been helping me keep calm during the worst of it. I usually go when you’re in your sessions. You’ve just had so much going on and I didn’t want to make it worse!”

“Oh Galo...you really are an idiot.” Lio sighed, leaning against his arm.

“That’s really starting to sound like a pet name.” Galo mentioned, shifting until his arm was draped over Lio’s shoulders. 

“Maybe it will be, if you’re so insistent on calling me Firebug.” He hummed, the long day catching up to him as his eyes slowly drifted. 

“Oi, if you’re gonna go to sleep at least go to bed.” Galo poked his cheek, waking him up a little.

“Mmm...fine.” He slid out from the blue haired man’s arms and hovered towards his room, only to be stopped by a hand on his wrist.

“Wa-wait. I wanted to ask...You always end up coming into my room at night, so why don’t...don’t you um…I mean if you don’t want to cause of earlier that’s fine...I just thought…”

“Are you asking me to sleep with you, Galo Thymos?” Lio looked at him, eyebrows raised.

“Yeah!” His expression went from hopeful to panicked. “No! Not in that way! I mean how you usually do!”

“I know. I suppose it wouldn’t be so bad to go straight to your room...are you coming?”

“I’ll be there by the time you’re done getting ready, ok? Think you can stay awake till I get there?”

“I’ll do my best, but if you take too long then I’m going to sleep without you.” Lio rolled his wrist until Galo let go, before smiling and going to get changed.

As the door behind him closed, Lio took a moment to process what Galo had said to him. He’d invited him straight into his bed instead of waiting for him to come to him on his own, Lio felt his chest ache at the sincerity with which he said it. It wasn’t the same kind of ache as when he was having his nightmares, it was like he said to Dr Heris. 

Despite being a firefighter, Galo seemed to set off this warmth inside of him.

Lio turned as he reached for a shirt, and caught sight of himself in the mirror. He never really spent long looking at himself, it was more that he didn’t want to see what he looked like. Because of his childhood, he was thinner than any man his age should be, and now he had this awful scar in the center of his chest. He hated himself from the neck down.

Even if what Dr Heris thought was correct, there was no way those feelings would stay once he saw this. 

After a deep breath, he steadied himself and pulled on the shirt. It swallowed him, so it was probably one of Galo’s. The idiot occasionally seemed to forget that he wasn’t living alone anymore, though he didn’t really mind it. They smelled of him.

He shuffled out of his room and into Galo’s, walking straight in since he’d stopped bothering to knock after a few days of coming into him. He came to regret that, as Galo had just decided to stand there in his underwear. 

It was one thing for him to walk around shirtless, but this nudist streak was starting to do him in.

“There you are! Ready for bed Firebug?” 

“Not gonna put pants on tonight?” A pale eyebrow raised, as he slipped into bed next to him.

“Eeeh it’s too hot for pants. Why does it bother you?” He hummed.

“I didn’t say that. Some warning would have been nice though.” Lio rolled over with a smirk on his face.

There was a pause, then from behind him he heard a quiet noise of surprise, followed by a huff before he seemed to finally settle down. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Galo and the Phone- I think this is his way of showing Lio that he wants to look after him. Galo tends to trip of his words when he gets embarrassed. So him offering to get Lio a phone instead of them waiting for Burning Rescue to pay him is just one of his ways to show he cares.
> 
> Bringing Someone Somewhere Twice - After I finished writing this I read the 'Fallen' series by Lauren Kate, and that quote resonated with me super strongly. I just thought I'd throw it in there last minute since I like it so much.
> 
> Galo's Involvement with Kray's Court Case - Given that aside from the Burnish Galo was pretty messed up by Kray's actions before and during the Parnassus incident, he'd be pretty instrumental in getting any sort of punishment brought onto the asshole. 
> 
> Lio's Opinion of Himself - Here is a man who's only known love that seemed conditional by what he is and what he can do, the only mother he had didn't want anything to do with him when he became Burnish, and even though Gueira and Meis are his best friend, he's under the impression that they wouldn't have even become friends if he hadn't been so powerful. He is learning otherwise.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lio has his first official rescue with the team.  
> It goes about as well as you'd expect.

“Ok~! Let’s see how this looks!” Lucia took a step back, eyeing up her handiwork and presenting him with a full length mirror.

Lio turned to look at himself, and he couldn’t stop his eyes from widening. It wasn’t too far off from his old armour from when he led Mad Burnish, though instead of pure black there were more luminescent colours to it, there were less sharp edges, and his face was more visible. 

“Lucia...this is fantastic!” His eyes lit up.

“It modeled it after your Mad Burnish armor, only made it a little more friendly to people who need rescuing! It’s fireproof and can handle weights of up 50kg, so if you get trapped you won’t immediately be crushed. There’s fire extinguishing equipment on the legs, and on the back you’ve got something that can carry a single civilian since you’ll be going in for singular rescues. Tell me, can you move ok?” 

“Uuh…” He moved his legs and arms, making sure he could move around. “It’s surprisingly moveable. Have I told you that you’re a genius yet?”

“Nope, so I expect to hear it at least once every time you’re in!”

Before the conversation could go further, sirens started blaring alerting them to some new emergency. Lio found himself feeling a bit nervous, but Lucia gave him a massive grin.

“Well, it might be time to test out that new suit of yours~!” She pulled him out of Ignis’ office.

“ _ A building is on the verge on the outskirts of Promepolis, area Q13, dispatch request for burning rescue, repeat dispatch request for burning rescue!”  _

“A collapsing building? I thought all of the buildings were secured now!?” Aina called, running for her station.

“There’s always a chance something could be missed. Our unit can only do so much by ourselves. Come on! Let’s go!” Ignis ordered, sliding into his car.

Lio pulled himself into the main van alongside Lucia, giving a quick smile to Galo who was already sitting there ready and waiting. Sometimes he had to wonder whether the blue haired man spent all of his shift in the seat just waiting. Galo’s eyes followed him as he slid into a seat at the far end of the vehicle, it made it easier for the other three to get out since they were more frequently needed.

“Wha...what are you wearing?!” Galo gasped, leaning forward to look at him past Varys and Remi.

“Looking good Lio!” Varys nudged him gently, he was always gentle with him...probably because he figured he could snap him like a twig if he wasn’t careful.

“You really look like a member of Burning Rescue now! Do you think you’ll get to use it?”

“On the one hand I hope not...a collapsing building, wouldn’t want anyone in there on their own. But I also really wanna try out Lucia’s new tech.” He flexed his hands, sending a smirk in Galo’s direction.

“Alright by the looks of it there are two large groups inside, one on the 10th floor and one on the 16th.” Aina’s voice came through the intercom. “Remi can handle the 10th on his own, Galo go with Varys to the 16th, there’s a few more people in that group.”

“Got it! Boys, get ready, Lio help Lucia keep an eye on things from down here.” 

Lio nodded and made his way to the console as the smaller girl pressed an array of buttons to send the three men to the necessary floors. Galo gave him a firm nod, before his gear was lifted into the canon.

“Luckily there’s no fires…” Lucia mentioned. “Otherwise Galo would be going nuts.”

“Too true.” Lio chuckled.

“Hey...have you two talked about feelings at all?” She turned and asked him, catching the white haired man by surprise a little.

“Where’d that come from? He makes sure I talk to him when I’m not handling things well.”

“Yeah but we can all see the way you two look at each other. It’s almost painful to watch you dance around each other the way you do.”

Lio didn’t answer her, and thankfully she didn’t press the subject. If she’d been giving him advice he wouldn’t have minded, but all he felt she was really doing was pressing into business that he didn’t want her to. Now wasn’t the time to be talking about him and Galo, it was about making sure those people got out safe.

“Captain!” The Blue haired man’s voice came through the speakers. “We’re on our way down with the people who were trapped, Varys has them and I’m making sure the way is-” Before he could finish, Aina interrupted him.

“Sir! There’s someone left inside, one person on the top floor.” 

“Can you get to them?” Ignis asked from where he was leaning.

“No, the roof looks too unstable for me to land on! We need Lio and fast, he can get in through a broken window.”

Ignis gave him a look, and with a solid nod the smaller man was sliding into the launch canon. Looks like he was getting to try these things out after all. 

“There’s a hole in the window, so we’re aiming for that. Make sure you tuck and roll.” Lucia informed him, only giving him that warning before sending him up into the sky.

He’d flown before back when he was Burnish, once using his flames to propel him into the sky to guide those trapped by Kray foresight to safety, then again in his rage after being shot. This time it felt more controlled, and soon he was crossing his arms over his face as he shot through the window. There was still some glass left which shattered as he collided with it, and somewhere behind him he could have sworn he’d heard Galo calling his name.

There was no time for that now though. He had a person to find.

“Aina, I’m inside. Where’s the victim?” Lio asked, hoping she’d be able to at least give him a direction.

“Ok, I see you! They’re down the hall and to the left, that’s all I can see. Be careful, the roof above you could cave in at any moment, move fast but carefully.”

“Got it.” 

The small man made his way through the building as fast as he could, making sure to avoid any bits of rubble that looked like it was holding things up. One nudge could bring the whole thing down, and being crushed would really ruin his day. 

He turned down the hall Aina indicated and checked each room for signs of life. Most of them were empty, and he was about to move past one that he thought was equally empty when he heard the quietest cough. Barely there and hard to hear over the creaking of metal...but there all the same. Lio checked that moving the door wouldn’t cause a chain reaction before opening it and sliding inside.

“Hello? I’m from Burning Rescue! I’m here to come and get you!” He announced, the words slipping from his mouth easier than he’d imagined.

“Help...me…!” That voice...the owner couldn’t have been older than 10!

Carefully moving through the room, Lio found the child, a little girl curled up in the corner trembling like a leaf, and could only sigh with relief when he saw no major external injuries. It meant he could move her without worrying too much, but he still gave her a quick once over just to be safe, internally thanking Ignis for the first aid training he’d given him early on. 

Lio lifted the girl into his arms and pressed one of the buttons on his suit’s arms. He distributed the weight a little better before helping her climb in and secure herself.

“Captain, I’ve secured the remaining person in the building and am planning a way out. Aina, can you help me at all?”

“If you can get to the roof I could be able to pick you up, but that’s about it.”

As thought about his options, Lio could hear some yelling through the intercom connected to captain Ignis, it sounded like Galo was having some sort of fit down there, it was kind of a shame that he didn’t have time to worry about it. He turned to the girl on his back.

“Hey, what’s your name?” 

“Sera Drenseth...What’s yours mister?” She replied, her voice trembling. 

“My name’s Lio Fotia, and I’m gonna get you out of here. I promise.” He set off, moving even more carefully now that he had a human life in his hands, he kept her talking though, cause if she was talking she’d be calm. “Wanna tell me what you’re doing up here on your own?”

“I was waiting for my mommy to finish work. She works a few floors down but I wait for her up here cause I like to see the city from real high up.”

“Her mother…” Lio hummed, before pressing his intercom. “Captain? Can you confirm if there’s a woman with the surname Drenseth down there among people who managed to get out and who have been rescued?”

“I’ll ask around and let you know. How are you doing?”

Lio turned the corner to where the door to the roof should be, only to find it blocked off by fallen rubble. Normally he’d have cursed, but with a child strapped to his back that probably wouldn’t comfort her at all. Instead he hissed quietly and turned around, searching for a stairwell.

“Roof’s been cut off and I think the stairwell has too. I’m gonna have to find another way down…” He made his way to the window he came in through.

He poked his head out and noticed how cracks were starting to form on the exterior walls too, and it became obvious he was running out of time. He needed to act now, but it was way too far of a drop for him to make without the Promare. Unless…

“Aina? Can you come to my side of the building? It’s risky but I have an idea.”

“Ok...I don’t like the sound of this, you sound too much like Galo for my liking...but stay where you are, I’m on my way. Make sure you’re about a floor below!”

Backing up a little, he turned to Sera again and reached his hand back for her to hold on to. After a brief moment of hesitation, she took it, squeezing as hard as her tiny fingers could manage. He pulled her out of the carrier, figuring it would be all the more dangerous for her there than in his arm when he tried this. He had one shot.

“Sera, I want you to close your eyes, and keep them closed until I tell you. Can you do that for me?” She nodded, burying her face in his chest. “Alright. Aina, are you ready?”

“I am, but Lio if you’re gonna do what I think you are-”

“Don’t move and I’ll let you know when to start landing.”

“LIO!” 

He heard several voices through his intercom, but there was no time to turn back now, the roof was starting to cave in on them. Holding Sera as close to him as he could, he took a running start for the broken window and threw himself out of it, angling himself towards the plain just below him and curling around Sera to make sure she didn’t get hurt. His back hit the metal with a thud, and though he slid a little he managed to stay on top of the plane.

“Ok we’re good! Aina, let’s get on the ground.” He told her, shifting onto his knees.

“You’re crazier than Galo…” She sighed, but the plane started descending all the same.

“Sera, are you alright. Not in pain?”

“Oh wow!” Her eyes were fixed on the skyline. “This is amazing Mr Lio! I can see so far!” 

“I’m glad you’re enjoying the ride down.” He chuckled. “But seriously, I need to make sure you’re not too badly injured. I’m sure your mom will want you going to the hospital just in case, but are you in any immediate pain?”

“Nope! I was really scared, but I’m glad you came to save me! Thank you Mr Lio!” She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed.

“Lio, we found the kid’s mom, she got out in the initial evac.” Ignis reported.

“Awesome. See Sera, your mom is down there waiting for you.” He placed a hand on her head.

Eventually they landed safely, and for a moment Lio forgot where he was, because as he Sera into Vary’s arms to get her onto the ground, the crowd surrounding them began to cheer. He didn’t think that it could possibly be for him, and that was when he noticed that all eyes were on him. It felt...strange.

“Sera! Oh my god!” A woman darted forward pulling the little girl into her arms.

“Mommy! That man over there saved me! He was super cool!”

The woman looked up at him, and all sorts of thoughts and anxieties began to race through his head. What if she reacted badly to her daughter being saved by someone considered to be a former terrorist?! What if she tried to yell at him for throwing himself out of a window with her!

“You...you’re the one who saved her...Lio Fotia?” Her eyes widened, and Lio could only flinch as she called him out by name.

“Uh...yes ma’am. I-!” He was cut off by the woman wrapping her arms around him and squeezing.

“Thank you!” She sobbed. “Thank you so much!”

Another round of cheers started, and Lio could only wave awkwardly to the people who were suddenly very supportive of him. Was this a good step in helping the former Burnish people integrate? Maybe...he didn’t really know. What he did know though, was this little girl and her mother were giving him hope for the future.

“LIO FOTIA!” A voice attracted his attention, prompting him to let go of the woman and turn.

In the end he was released from one bone crushing hug of relief into another, as Galo disregarded everyone else around him and pulled Lio as close to him as he could.

“You idiot! You stupid, crazy, ridiculous, reckless little idiot!” He rambled in his ears.

“What…? I had to get her out of there somehow?” Lio tried to look at him, but he couldn’t move too well.

“And what!? Couldn’t you wait for Aina and just step on the roof like a normal person?!” 

“Oh yeah cause you’re one to talk!”

Galo continued to yell at him for a full minute, completely disregarding that they were in public and that people were staring at him. Eventually he stopped, but only because Sera began to tug on his pant leg.

“Sir! Please don’t be mad at Mr Lio, he just wanted to get me out as fast as possible!” She looked up at him, her giant baby eyes wide and defensive.

“I’m…” He sighed, finally letting Lio go, he didn’t stop the contact though as he wrapped an arm tightly round his waist.. “I’m not mad at him, I was just worried that he’d get hurt doing something stupid. Cause that’s my job.”

“Finally, you said something accurate.” Lio sniped, grinning at Sera until she giggled.

“Alright, Ambulances are here to take the people we saved to the hospital, including you little lady. We need to get out of the way so that we can make room to steady the building.” Ignis clapped both men on the shoulder.

“Look after yourself Sera!” Lio waved, following the Captain back to the truck.

“Bye bye Mr Lio! Thanks again!” She waved back.

Once they were all safely in their respective vehicles, they set off back to HQ, and chaos erupted. Aina and Galo were still chastising him for the reckless move, Varys and Remi were congratulating him on an awesome rescue, Lucia was over the moon about the equipment working so well...and Ignis was telling them all to shut up.

So pretty standard post-rescue treatment.

“Oh come on guys, you gotta admit that he looked pretty cool launching himself out the way he came in!” Varys tried to reason.

“True, true.” Aina admitted. “But what if I hadn’t been in front of the right window? He and that little girl could have died!”

“But we didn’t! So it’s fine! And that’s the end of it!” Lio raised his voice to be heard, and that finally ended the conversation.

“But Lio-”

“If you wanna talk about it at home, fine. But right now I need to get out of this suit.”

That got him to shut up about it, but Lio definitely noticed the frequent worried glances from the other man. Lucia and Remi started arguing about the necessity of some of the things she’d been working on, and as they pulled into the station he finally felt himself come down from the rush.

“Before you all go, I just wanted to make a quick announcement!” Ingis turned to his team, making them all pause in his tracks. “Lio?” 

The smaller man had just pulled his helmet off and was shaking his hair out when his name was called, and he turned his head sharply when he heard the tone in the Captain’s voice. Oh shit...was he gonna be officially chewed out now that they were back?

“What you did today was probably...the second most reckless thing I’ve seen one of my team do. The first was Galo launching himself at your giant fire dragon.” Galo whined and the other burst into laughter. “And today’s incident proved that not only do you have the soul of Burning Rescue, you have the power to calm even a frightened child."

“Oh my god oh my god oh my god!” Aina whispered, grabbing Remi’s arm.

“He’s gonna say it! He’s gonna!” Galo grabbed onto his other arm, leaving the man between them looking frustrated.

“If I could finish?” Ignis sent them a look. “We’d be honored to have you on our team. Full time, paid. How does that sound?”

“Sir...I’d...I don’t think I have the words.” Lio felt tears burning in his eyes, not ones of sadness or fear...but happiness.

“I’m taking that as a yes! Let me be the first to officially welcome you to the team, Lio Fotia!” Ignis held out a hand for him to shake.

Before his hand could an inch, Lio found himself back in Lio’s arms and being spun around in the air, whilst the rest of Burning Rescue chanted his name. It felt like a more real celebration than the hushed thank yous from the Burnish they rescued, and though he wasn’t sure he liked being thrown around like a ragdoll, he definitely enjoyed feeling appreciated by society.

“We should have a party on friday!” Aina suggested! 

“Yeah! Lio you should invite your two friends, see if they can be discharged for the night! And if we invited Heris she could take them back! We can have Pizza and drinks and music! It’d be so fun, Captain pleeaase!” Galo whined like a child begging his parents for candy. 

“Don’t I get a say in this?” Lio asked, only to be cut off by a chorus of no’s from the rest.

“Fine. But if an alarm goes off in the middle of it then we’ll have to put celebrations on hold.” 

Another cheer erupted, and the members of Burning Rescue, ignoring Lio’s protests that he really didn’t need a party for this, began planning how they could make room at the station to have it. It wasn’t like they didn’t have time. The party would be Friday, and it was currently Monday. Plenty of time.

***

On wednesday, Lio sat on Gueira’s bed after his usual session with Dr Heris, telling them about what had happened a couple of days ago, and the quickly approaching party. Heroes had been happy to accept the invitation, as well as agreeing to bring Guiera and Meis should they want to come as well. 

“They’re seriously throwing you a party?” Meis laughed, “And the idiot told you to invite us?!”

“Well it  _ is  _ my party, it makes sense that my best friends should be there.” 

“I wish we could have seen you in action, boss. Be like back in the good old days.” Guiera sighed.

“Sorry, next time I’ll wait for you to get there.” He rolled his eyes. “So are you coming or not?”

“Of course we are!” They both hugged him, both sharing pride that their former leader and best friend was finding a new place for himself.

Lio wrestled his way out of their grip, just as some official looking person poked their head round to corner. His eyes focused on Lio and he immediately made his way over.

“You’re Lio Fotia yes?” He asked.

“I am. Who’s asking.”

“I don’t think we met, my name’s Killian. I was one of the scientists working on the Promatech engine...that was until I realised what he was planning to use as fuel.” He cleared his throat as three sets of eyes narrowed. “I take it you’re well.”

“Skip the pleasantries. What do you want?” 

“Ahem...I’ve spoken to your partner Galo Thymos a lot recently, and he seems to think that you’re the best person to represent the Former Burnish.”

“Partner?” Meis and Gueira exchanged glances. 

“What’s your point?” Lio continued, ignoring the looks they were giving him.

“Currently, I’m acting as the temporary Governor, but there’s an election for the new Governor of Promepolis coming in a couple of months. I wanted to ask you if you act as a representative for the Former Burnish, help us to help you come back into society.”

Lio thought about the offer, and even though it sounded like something he’d jump for...he found himself hesitating. He’d always found public officials annoying and full of themselves, so even if he’d been successful in setting up a Burnish only city, he’d have probably asked someone older than himself to step in and lead them.

He cared for the people who’d followed him, who’d trusted him with their lives...but that time was over for him now. And he knew there were people among them who could keep clearer heads and make more rational decisions. He had, after all, almost burnt the city to the ground in his anger.

“I appreciate the offer, but I can give you a list of people who’d be better suited.” The white haired man turned away from him.

“What? But who would be better for this role than the former Mad Burnish leader!?”

“You obviously don’t know the boss very well.” Gueira smirked.

“He was a great leader when we needed someone to give us hope in the face of oppression, but he was never cut out to be a politician. Uh...no offense.”

“None taken, it’s the truth.” He looked back at Killian. “Give me your contact details and I’ll send the names to you. You’d be better having at least two or three Former Burnish on your council. Give more perspective.”

“I’m...a little disappointed, but I understand where you’re coming from.” Killian sighed.

The Temporary Governor gave Lio a small card with a bunch of different ways to contact him, and excused himself. He stared at the card, but could feel his friend’s eyes on him. He knew what they were going to say, he’d known it from the moment the word left Killian’s lips.

“So...is the idiot your boyfriend or not?” It was Guiera who broke the silence, as usual.

“He’s not. That man probably just assumed since he’s been stopping people from talking to me about the Parnassus incident while I recover.” He shrugged.

“That does kinda seem like something a boyfriend would do…” Meis raised an eyebrow.

“He’s not my boyfriend!” Lio huffed, sliding off of the bed to stand up.

“Meis? Gueira? It’s time for today’s session.” A nurse appeared, smiling at Lio since he was here at least once a week.

“You got it~! We’ll see you on Friday boss!” Gueira waved as he left.

Lio sent a text to Galo telling him to come and get him, but the blue haired man was already waiting for him on his bike. Oh right, they’d agreed he’d come at this time unless told otherwise. 

“How was it?” He asked as the smaller man sat behind him.

“Well. Dr. Heris, Meis and Gueira are all up for Friday, so she’ll discharge them. I also met the Temporary Governor.”

“Killian? You saw him?” Galo turned to look at him over his shoulder.

“Yeah...he asked me to represent the former Burnish on the new council after the election. But I said no…”

“You what? I’d thought you’d want something like that since it’s similar to before?”

“It’s…” Lio tried to find the right words. “Politics just aren’t my thing...I’d get too emotionally invested. Plus those kinds of people annoy me, you know that.”

“Yeah...I know.” He sighed with a smile. “Come on, let’s go!”

Lio knew Galo wouldn’t judge him for his decision, in fact he’d probably be happy that he’d turned it down, since it would have been difficult for him to do both council work and work with Burning Rescue. But it didn’t matter anyway...cause it wasn’t a difficult decision for the smaller man.

He knew where he wanted to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lio's Job - Since Lio is a small boi, I thought if he is going to be helping Burning Rescue then it'll probably be in more...concentrated rescues. Like one person being stuck somewhere that the other members couldn't reach, he'd be able to slip right in and get them.
> 
> Lio's Suit - I just thought it'd be cool for him to have a rescue suit that resembled a friendlier version of his Burnish Armor. It still lets him move around efficiently, though it doesn't have stilts. 
> 
> The Alarm - Did I just make up an area code based on what we hear at the start of the movie? Absolutely. Funnily enough I noticed on my like 10th watching of Promare (don't @ me) that as Varys, Remi and Lucia pile into the big van at the start, Galo's already in there taking A NAP! Go check it out it's ridiculous.
> 
> Sera Drenseth - Needless to say, I'm not great at making up names, but I needed a little girl for Lio to save to start his Burning Rescue Career with a bang. Sure he's a former terrorist but who wouldn't support a guy who saved a kid.
> 
> Killian - Well Promepolis needs a temporary leader, so why not a guy who ditched Kray? He basically had the same job as Heris but he left a lot sooner. Morals.
> 
> Politics - So...if anyone was wondering I was absolutely quoting Anne Boleyn's song from SIX. Have I ever mentioned that I'm a massive musical theatre nerd?


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lio gets a party thrown to celebrate him officially joining Burning Rescue.  
> He also gets a little more.

Finally, Friday rolled around at Lio had never been on the outside of such a ball of stress. Galo had refused to let the white haired man so much as lift a finger in terms of helping them, all of them insisting that he should take it easy because it was his party. All he had to think about was what he was going to wear, but even that wasn’t difficult. 

After a shift last week Aina had taken him shopping, even though he insisted that he really didn’t need any more clothes after Galo’s raid on the shopping district, but apparently she wanted to get him some things that the blue haired man would go crazy over. One of those things was a plain black crop top which she’d told him to wear on a special occasion along with his pants and boots from his Mad Burnish days. This was special right?

Lio was alone in the apartment during the last few hours leading up to the party, since Galo was helping set things up. He busied himself by cleaning, washing the bed sheets from Galo’s room but leaving his own for another day, since he rarely used that bed these days there wasn’t much point. He’d tried once, to go back to his own bed, because he felt like the nightmares were getting better, and if he did have one he could handle it. In the end he’d woken up screaming again, and Galo had come in to carry him back to his own room. So he didn’t try sleeping on his own again.

Once he’d done his cleaning, he’d got dressed and felt...surprisingly like himself. There was no way to get the shirt and jacket back after how much they’d burnt, but the leather and belts reminded him of a time that wasn’t easier per se, but a time where he’d really become his own adult person.

He was flexing his hands into the gloves, when Galo burst through the door singing a song that was popular on the radio. 

“Lio~! You ready to...to go…” He trailed off, spotting the smaller man standing by the couch.

It was impossible to ignore the way Galo’s eyes trailed over his abs, and out of nowhere Lio found himself feeling like something in a shop window.

“Hm? Oh, yeah I’m ready. You look...good.” Lio could only turn his head away to hide the blush.

Galo was wearing a pair of tight jeans, that really could have been painted on, no shirt, which wasn’t unusual, and a blazer he’d probably only seen once or twice when he was doing laundry. It was...classically Galo. Of course the big blue idiot struck a ridiculous pose with his hands over his face, though Lio could have sworn he was blushing. The smaller man slid his phone into his jacket and approached the door, noticing that Galo wasn’t actually following him.

“Are we going or what?” Lio raised an eyebrow.

“Ah I need to call a cab first!” He pulled his phone out and started to tap.

“A cab? You planning on drinking a lot?” 

“Eeeh...not an obscene amount. Just enough to get buzzed, it is a party after all. I don’t like riding and drinking you know?”

Lio understood, he probably wouldn’t be drinking all that much if at all. During that crucial time of growing up and trying alcohol he’d been a Burnish, and the flames burnt it out of his system before he could really feel it’s effects. Now that he was a normal human again he wasn’t sure how his body would handle it...so it was better to leave it for another time.

It didn’t take long for the taxi to be booked, and then arrive, probably a 10 minute wait in which the two men simply sat together and enjoyed the last few minutes of peace they’d get for the evening. 

“Are you sure you’re gonna be ok with this Lio? Like I know it’s not that many people, but…” Galo muttered once they were in the cab and on their way to HQ.

“Well it’s a bit late to be asking me that now.” He shrugged. 

“Yeah I know. Just...if you start getting overwhelmed I want you to tell me, yeah?”

“Sure. Believe it or not I don’t actually mind parties. At the Burnish settlement we’d have something similar.”

“Really? Did you dance?” Galo’s eyes widened with interest.

“Yep. We’d light a big fire and dance until it burnt out. It didn’t happen often, but when it did it kept spirits up.”

“That sounds like fun! Well there won’t be a big fire, but I’m sure you’ll still have plenty of fun!” 

Lio smiled at him and nodded, trusting the taller man to show him a good time that evening. Tonight was a night for him to let loose and forget about everything that had happened, and he had every intention of doing so.

***

“CONGRATULATIONS OF JOINING BURNING RESCUE!” Numerous voices cheered as he followed Galo into the station, followed by lots of popping sounds.

Lio was a little taken back by the sudden voices, but as he spotted the banner and streamers began to drift down onto his head, a smile split across his face. There were more people there than he’d expected, a couple of officials welcoming Burning Rescues new member, a few people who worked with Dr. Heris, Lio didn’t think he was all that important but he guessed he was wrong.

“Thank you...all of you.” The white haired man grinned as music began to play.

The crowd dispersed to grab a drink, begin dancing straight away or pick up a slice of Pizza. It was small, but it really did feel like a party. Galo quickly vanished, though Lio had a sneaking suspicion that he was going to get food, but that was fine since Gueira and Meis were quick to wrap their arms around him.

“Whoa, you look amazing boss!” The long haired man grinned.

“Yeah, almost like your old self!”

“Thanks you two, but you really don’t have to keep calling me boss. Just Lio is fine.”

“We know, but we’ve been calling you that for so long, it’d feel weird if we didn’t. Come on, let’s go get a drink!” Guiera guided the trio away.

“Should you two be drinking?” Lio raised an eyebrow, but allowed himself to be pulled along regardless.

“Eh we’ll just stick to soft drinks, it’s fine. What about you? You gonna drink?”

“Mmm...maybe later, I’ll just have water first.”

The three of them stood watching people dance, sipping water, and without it needing to be said, it was obvious they were remembering the parties at the settlement. It was nice not to have to worry about Freeze Force coming and interrupting things with their cruel weapons, but at the same time…

“I kinda miss it…” Guiera muttered, as if reading his thoughts.

“I know...me too. But in the end this is better, safer.” Lio sighed, both of them nodded.

“So...how did the idiot react when he saw you in that get up?” Meis leaned against him.

All three of them managed to find Galo at the same time, the blue haired man doing the strangest dance any of them had seen with a slice of Pizza waving from his mouth. Blue eyes met Magenta, and he gave the biggest wave he could possibly manage, which made Lio blush and turn away and continued to drink his water. If Guiera and Meis noticed his expression then they didn’t say anything.

“We’re gonna go dance, Boss. You coming?”

He looked between his two friends, and it was impossible to miss the look on Meis’ face at the idea of them dancing. Lio had always known there was something between the two of them, a very physical relationship that started from necessity but grew, and though they’d tried to bring him into things, it never really felt right. So with that in mind, he smiled and shook his head.

“You two go ahead, I’m fine watching.”

They gave him a look that asked if he was sure, but a simple nod from him was all they needed to pull each other away. They looked so happy together, and as happy as they’d been to see him moving on from the incident, and even Mad Burnish, he thought that he was even happier to see them dancing like that.

“You should have joined them.” Aina slid up next to him, a cup in each hand.

“Nah...they need time together that isn’t in hospital beds.” He shrugged, and eyed up the second cup. “I take it, those aren’t both for you?”

“Nope! One is for you, unless you want to stick to water.” She raised an eyebrow.

“Mmm…” He finished off what was left of his water, then took the other cup. “If I get drunk fast then I’ll tell Galo to blame you.”

“I will take full responsibility.” She chuckled. “It’s not that strong anyway, a mix of coconut rum and soda. I figured you’d probably need to ease into the alcohol scene.”

“Thanks.” He took a sip and hummed, surprised at how good it tasted. 

“You know he hasn’t really been able to take his eyes off you?”

“Huh…? Who hasn’t?” Lio was actually a little shocked.

“Galo, you dummy! The only time he looks away is when he sees you watching him. Is there a reason you’re dancing around him like this? I know that he tried to kiss you.” She grinned. “And before you ask, Galo told me, not Heris.”

“Idiot really needs to learn to keep his mouth shut.” The white haired man hissed.

“He was worried he’d fucked things up for you. You can’t tell me you haven’t noticed how into you he is?”

“Of course I have...he’s about as subtle as a brick. I just...his feelings won’t last. I know they won’t.”

“What do you mean they won’t last? Lio-”

“One day he’ll realise how broken I am. He’ll see me for what I am and then I doubt he’ll want to stick around.”

She looked at him, considering his words as he continued to watch Galo dance around like he didn’t have a care in the world. He was currently spinning Lucia around like a ragdoll, despite Remi begging her to put the poor girl down.

He was such an idiot.

“That’s not how Galo works. He’s never looked at anyone the way he looks at you. I know you’re afraid of being hurt, especially by him, but you should put more faith in him. He...I really think that he loves you.

This time, it was his turn to consider her words. She was now the fourth person to tell him that this emotion he was feeling was love...and the more he was told, the less scary it seemed, being in love with someone like Galo Thymos. He’d been right not to drink a lot, since he could already feel what Aina had given him, making his body hum with a new warmth. His eyes found Galo’s once more, and the blue haired man beckoned him to come dance with him, an odd reflection of how he’d done the same action at their first meeting.

“He won’t run away from you because you’re broken...or however you see yourself. It’ll just make him try harder to make you happy.”

The song playing now was kinda slow, but had a pretty heavy beat to it so that people could still dance if they wanted to. For a moment Lio stared at him, trying to find some sort of indication that he was joking...but when there was none he excused himself from Aina and moved towards him. It almost felt like he was in a trance as Galo’s hand slipped into his own.

“I thought you said you danced.” He muttered, swaying close to him.

“I did, I just didn’t feel like dancing on my own.” 

Lio was helpless as Galo moved slowly to the music, occasionally spinning him like they were slow dancing. He’d expected there to be at least a couple pairs of eyes on them as they danced in a way that was a far cry from what friends would do, but everyone seemed to be giving them space. Maybe he wasn’t as subtle as he liked to believe either.

“Are you sure this is ok? I don’t want to push you...before you’re ready.”

“It wasn’t that...Like I said, I didn’t not want to. I’ve just never felt this way about anyone.” He kept his face pressed to Galo’s chest so he wouldn’t see him blushing. 

“I get why you’d be scared. After the life you lead before now.”

“You understand right? I didn’t have time for those kinds of feelings.”

“Not even Guiera and Meis…?”

“Nope, not even them. Why…?” Lio finally looked up at him through his pale lashes. “Jealous, Galo Thymos?” 

“Would it be bad...if I was?” By this point, the blue haired man was leaning down to whisper in his ear. 

“Not really, no.”

They weren’t really dancing at this point, Galo had pulled him so close that they were just grinding against each other, each movement sending sparks straight up Lio’s spine. It was entirely too much, but at the same time it was nowhere near enough. So he gave in to this emotion that was quickly taking the place of the Promare.

“So...would you mind if...I kissed you now?” Galo’s face was so close to his.

“You mean give me cpr again?” He smirked.

“Just shut up, Firebug.” His voice was just above a whisper as he leaned in.

This time, Lio didn’t run away. In fact, he closed whatever distance was left between them and finally pressed their lips together. It felt like this had been a long time coming for the both of them, not just since the end of the Parnassus incident, but from their very first meeting. It was so gentle, as if Galo was afraid of scaring him off or breaking him. He may have been thin, but he was definitely not fragile, and he currently had several weeks worth of feelings pent up after living with the would-be nudist, so he couldn’t help but smirk and Galo’s gasp of surprise when he deepened the kiss.

“You...you sure about that Firebug? I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop once we start.” Galo warned, already dragging him out of the dancing crowd.

“Then don’t stop. Fill the hole left by the Promare, you big idiot.” Lio whispered breathlessly, allowing himself to be pushed hard against the wall.

Galo’s lips were on his in an instant, hands gripping his bare waist as if he was trying to restrain himself from rutting against him in this corner of their place of work. To his credit, Lio gave back as good as he got, and it was him who gently pushed his way into the blue haired man’s mouth, revelling in the groan it got him.

“Fuck…” The blue haired man gasped. “Seriously...where’d you get this shirt?”

“I bo-bought it when I went shopping with Aina.” Lio’s voice stuck in his throat, as he felt a leg press between his thighs.

“I’ll have to thank her, cause it’s seriously making me want to mark you up right here and now.”

He was pinned by Galo’s entire torso, and as the taller man moved his head to the side so he could get better access to his neck. It was difficult to keep his wits about him, especially when he could feel not only his own dick, but Galos’ stiffening at an alarming rate. He could barely stop himself from whining when he felt those giant hands moving to try and slide into the back of his jeans.

“Nnnh...Galo~” 

The blue haired man leaned up to kiss him again, when someone cleared their throat from behind Galo. The two of them turned to see not just Captain Ignis staring at them...but every one else there too. Lio immediately turned bright red and hid behind the taller man, totally embarrassed that he’d lost himself to Galo that fast and that easily.

“I’m happy for you two, really, I am.” Ignis sighed. “But please...GET A DAMN ROOM.” 

“You’re gonna have to excuse me dragging Lio away from his own party, but...I think we ought to be getting home.” He grinned, lifting the smaller man into his arms.

“Oi, Firefighter.” Guiera and Meis stood between them and the door, and Lio’s stomach sank for a moment, before the both sighed and smiled. “You hurt him, and it won’t matter that we can’t control fire anymore.” 

“I promise.” Galo nodded, and the two of them stepped aside to fist bump their friend.

Somehow a cab was waiting for them as they rushed outside, maybe one of their friends had called it once they saw Galo and Lio having their little moment in the corner. It obviously wasn’t as dark as they’d anticipated. 

The blue haired man gave the driver his address, and even though it was incredibly unsafe to do so, he dragged Lio into his lap so they could keep kissing. Extremely dangerous behaviour from someone who worked for Burning Rescue, but it was painfully obvious neither of them cared.

“Galo~!” Lio whined whenever he was allowed to break for air. “Galo, the driver he- nnh!”

“It’s fine, I’ll just pay him extra. Focus on me Firebug, make my soul burn.” 

“A dangerous thing to ask of me Galo Thymos.” He sighed, pressing their chests together.

“Well, danger is my middle name.” Galo winked; laughing when the smaller man smacked his arm.

“Can you be serious for one minute please. Or I’ll change my mind.” 

“Ok ok, I’m sorry!”

They continued to make out in the back seat of the cab until the driver coughed awkwardly to let them know they were home. As promised, Galo paid him handsomely for putting up with his groans and Lio’s quiet whines, then pulled the smaller man out of the vehicle and into the apartment. 

As soon as the door shut behind them, Galo was on him again, grabbing his ass and kissing him like he’d die if he didn’t. Lio lifted his leg to wrap around the other man’s waist, moaning without shame as they came closer together.

“You’ve always made it so difficult to control myself around you, you know that Firebug? From the day we met.” Galo sighed, guiding Lio to the bedroom by walking backwards.

“From that far back? Seriously?”

“Yeah, you made me so frustrated, sitting on that throne with your legs spread like you owned the place. If I hadn’t been so under Kray’s thumb and working, I probably could have dropped to my knees and sucked you off.” 

“Fuck...Galo…” Lio sighed, letting himself be pushed back onto the bed. “We still could do that, I may not have the armor or the throne, but I could still give you all of the energy.”

“Damn...Lio please…” It was Galo’s turn to whine.

“Get those clothes off, now!”

He’d meant his own clothes, but Galo instead started by pulling Lio’s crop top over his head so he could abandon it on the floor. His fingers started to work on his belt, when those deep blue eyes widened at the sight of the scar on his chest.

“Hey...when did you get this?” His eyes moved up to meet Lio’s.

“It’s...nothing.” Lio looked away, cringing that he’d been so lost in things that he’d forgotten.

“It’s not. This looks like it would have been super painful. Why didn’t you tell me about it.”

“Well between it happening and saving the world I didn’t have much time. When Vulcan and Freeze Force raided the settlement he shot me with a bullet that froze me by absorbing my body heat. I got angry, pulled it out myself and went after Kray. See? Nothing.”

“No, Lio. It’s not nothing. You were hurt!”

“I get it...if you don’t want me now that you’ve seen it...” Lio turned his head, looking away from the taller man.

“Huh?!”

“Look at me, I’ve always been a stick but now I have this thing.”

Galo didn’t say anything, instead he seemed to be examining Lio’s body as he lay on the bed beneath him. He couldn’t stop the blush that spread from his cheeks to the base of his neck, especially with the way his eyes were boring into him.

“And you call me the idiot.” Galo finally muttered softly.

Without elaborating on that thought, the taller man leaned down to press gentle kisses over the center of his chest, right over the scar. Lio’s breath hitched as he got his tongue involved, kissing his skin with the same fervor he’d given his lips.

“Does my arm bother you?” He asked suddenly, looking up at him.

“What? No, of course it doesn’t! You got those saving Thyma!” 

“Then why would a scar you got defending your people bother me?”

He had no response to that, for some reason it wasn’t something he’d ever considered. Galo leaned up to kiss him again, running his large hand over his small frame in such a stark contrast, so Lio kissed back eagerly, until the kissing stopped again.

“If you don’t feel up to it now, we can stop. I’ve never done this before, so I don’t wanna mess up by pushing you.” He murmured, pressing chaste kissing to his pale collar bone.

“Galo, I told you I don’t want you to stop...I still mean it.” 

They smiled at each other, and lost themselves in the other’s body.

***

By the time they were done, it was the early hours of the morning, and yet neither of them were really ready to sleep. Lio had never felt so full in his life, and his throat was kind of raw from how much Galo had made him scream. 

The blue haired man had darted into the bathroom to grab what he needed to clean Lio down before they got too sticky, and maybe he’d gotten a little carried away since his legs now felt like noodles, so walking to the shower was out of the question.

“Here we go. Warm water and soft towels. Do you need anything else?” Galo sat next to him on the bed, beginning to wipe away the evidence of their fun.

“No…” Lio croaked. “I’ll be ok by morning. Was it good? You said it was your first time.”

“It was better than I could have ever imagined.”

They fell into a comfortable silence as he was washed down, until eventually Galo was satisfied that the smaller man was clean enough to crawl beneath the sheets. He helped him get there, wincing himself with every flash of pain that crossed Lio’s face, then joined him in bed with a big smile.

“So...did I convince you that a scar doesn’t make you any less worthy of being mine?” He carefully brushed some hair out of his face.

“Mmm I don’t know. You might have to try again tomorrow.” He made sure to smile, so that his big idiot knew that he was joking. 

“I’m guessing that I had some success then.”

“Don’t get too big headed about it.” 

They laughed quietly to themselves, and Galo pulled Lio tightly into his arms being careful of the marks he’d raked into his pale skin. The sensations were fading, but Lio was still confident that somehow...Galo had recreated that intense burning that he’d felt thanks to the Promare. Only now, he could burn safely, knowing that his Firefighter would always be there to put him out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aina's Shopping Trip - My girl wanted Lio to have some cool clothes to go out on the town with and she was happy to advise. Will there be a side story with the two of them bonding over buying clothes? Maybe.
> 
> Get a Damn Room - That entire section of Galo and Lio making out in a corner, probably moments from banging then and there, only to be interrupted by Ingis was something I came up with whilst telling a friend about this fic. He thought it was hilarious.
> 
> Lio's Throne - Listen...whenever I watch Promare I cackle at the way Lio sits during his first appearance. It has such big dick energy I can't help it. And don't tell me Galo would not get all hot and bothered by that pose.
> 
> The Little Time Jump - So by the time I finished this I was severely burnt out, as in I passed straight out as soon as I closed my computer down. I am planning on uploading what they do in this little gap as a little side story, unless no one wants to see it, then I won't.
> 
> Page Count - The original document for this story is JUST under 60 pages, and I somehow managed to pump out those pages in 6 days. It's the fastest I've ever been able to write a story, and this is the reason I got so burnt out with it. I didn't touch my computer for a week afterwards.
> 
> So this is it! The end of an Obsession fueled Promare Project that I probably will add little bits and pieces to with interest!  
> Next week Our Promise Kept starts back up and is ready to be finished!   
> After that...who knows!   
> Hope you enjoyed!!!

**Author's Note:**

> The Scar - I figured that the absolute freezing bullet thing Vulcan shot Lio with was embedded in his skin so it would have probably left a scar when he ripped it out, which cauterized when he attacked Promepolis and got super hot. Yeah I know there wasn't one on his character art but I think it would make sense.
> 
> Firebug - I saw on the wiki that Galo calls him that in the Japanese dub of the movie and I immediately decided it was becoming a permenant nickname.
> 
> Lio's Past - Since literally nothing was known about Lio, I kind of had to make a lot of it up, which includes why Lio is such a tiny boy with his stilted armor. It was sad but I could have made it a lot worse. I also think he was at Galo's first mission with Burning Rescue, but was more focused on tailing Mad Burnish so he could save them.
> 
> The Therapy - I figured that most if not all of the Burnish are gonna be a lil' bit traumatized after Kray pulling his shit, and they'd definitely need some sort of help. I figured Heris would volunteer to head their recuperation, not to alleviate guilt she felt for aiding Kray, but to make amends to the people she allowed him to hurt.


End file.
